Parisian Misdirection
by Reizod
Summary: In the short repose that followed the release of the kishin known as Asura, We find Eruka and Free in the city of Paris. Rated T for content in later chapters
1. A Day at the Louvre

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe or its characters.

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 1

A day at the Louvre

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It had taken awhile for him to grasp why she slunk away in the mornings. Of course, he didn't mind it. Being jail-bound for decades taught one how to deal with being alone. Still he would've liked to watch her work her specific brand of witchcraft. It wasn't a laser light show, but that was what made it fun to watch. Especially with the way she used it.

Humming a tune from "Les Miserables" as he meandered down the banks of the Seine River, Free wondered why Eruka had wanted to come to Paris. She hadn't seemed like the type to travel on a whim. That was more of something he would do. Maybe people from Paris were fun to play around with? Nah, she never said anything about liking certain types of humans. Come to think of it, she didn't really say much about herself at all. Then again neither had he. Of course, neither of them had asked so it wasn't much of a surprise. Maybe he'd ask Eruka to tell him something about herself. What to ask though…

He found her lying in wait in the shadows just under an arching bridge, apparently watching a couple that had stationed themselves at its center. She had that look of mischief in her eyes. He smirked at the sight. This was going to get good. Not wanting to miss the spectacle, Free ducked into the shadows as well, taking care not to make too much noise. Far be it for him to ruin Eruka's fun.

It appeared that the two on the bridge were about to share a first kiss. He could tell by the timidity of the woman. The man was also unsure of himself from his inability to keep his hands still. However, he managed to gather himself and lean in for the kiss. That was when Free heard the first incantation. The fog thickened slightly, rendering the lovers as little more than silhouettes. Another incantation quickly followed as both the man and woman continued to lean in, oblivious to the tomfoolery that was at hand. There was a half-second's silence before the third incantation was invoked, unthickening the fog to reveal a giant tadpole, grinning enormously as it received a kiss on each cheek. Both the man and the woman shrieked in surprise, the man having a surprising contralto to his partner's soprano. The woman tried to run, but slipped on a puddle of frog gunk secreted by the tadpole. She continued to slide down the arched bridge screaming all the while. The man, in an effort to comfort his fair maiden, tried to follow, only to discover that a different sort of goo surrounded his feet. He fell forward onto tadpole with a surprised yelp. The tadpole blushed. Free was sure it would've giggled if it could as it leapt into the river.

Eruka, who had managed to keep quiet throughout the entire escapade, burst out laughing. It was not long before Eruka noticed the roaring baritone guffaw coming from behind her.

The frog witch whirled about with a yelp. Her surprise turned to resigned annoyance when she found a grinning Free on the ground laughing. She sighed, "I told you not to sneak up on me like that."

Free smiled apologetically as he replied. "I didn't want to interrupt."

---

Later that morning, the frog witch and the invincible man sat down to breakfast at a sidewalk café. Eruka had ordered some form of tea along with a croissant and some assorted fruits. Free, after learning that meat was not a part of the breakfast menu, had settled for three baguettes, six croissants, two cups of hot chocolate and a block of cheese. Onlookers at adjacent tables were amazed at the remarkable speed with which he'd managed to eat it all. Eruka was still finishing her tea when Free got to his last croissant. He'd offered her the crescent shaped bread, but Eruka had politely refused. With a nonchalant shrug, Free then went about the business of eating the croissant, this time at a much more deliberate pace.

Eruka gave Free an inquisitive look, opening her mouth to ask a question but never quite forming the words. That was enough to prompt an answer from Free.

"A guy might need to eat, but that don't mean he can't live a little while he does it." Free replied to what he supposed was Eruka's silent question. He could never be too sure sometimes. The young witch tended to have a lot on her mind. She probably had a lot on it right now by the way she was idly stirring the remains of her tea. As he reached across the table to grab a jam packet he decided it was best not to ask at the moment. It was too early for emotional stuff, or whatever it was she was thinking about. He gave his butter knife a little flourish before proceeding to spread the jam. "So what's on the menu today?"

"I'd like to go to the Louvre." Eruka replied, abruptly removing the spoon from her tea.

Free nodded in approval. "Always wanted to go there." He took a vicious bite out of his croissant "Eiffel Tower's high on my list too." Free added, arching an eyebrow hopefully.

Eruka shook her head. "No, just the Louvre. There's something there I want to see."

Had he been in werewolf form his ears would've perked up at that. She was looking for something specific in a human museum. Probably some form of witch's tool or like that. He smiled as he wrenched another bite out of the croissant. Even the most mundane of things could be a magician's tool, though he suspected this one was not common, as the item in question was stored in the Louvre. It'd probably be fun to steal the object (whatever it was) in broad daylight.

Eruka must've caught the dangerous glint in his eyes a she proffered her hands in a mollifying manner. "We're just looking around Free." She cast a wary glance at the other nearby tables. "No souvenirs."

Free dampened, but only for a moment. He had always been one for new experiences. Going to a museum as a paying customer, rather than as a crook would certainly be a change of pace, if a little boring. Then again, it could be exciting in its own way right? "Can I at least get a calendar?" Free asked with a grin as he finished what was left of his croissant.

Eruka stifled a giggle as she replied "We'll see."

---

It was early afternoon when the pair arrived at the Louvre's Sully. Located just under the glass pyramid that stood at the center of the main courtyard, Free and Eruka stood on the mezzanine that surrounded and overlooked the very lowest floor of the Louvre. The shadows cast by the lining of the glass structure that stood above them traced an endless pattern of triangles on the people packed floor below. It was an interesting sight to Free's eyes. Not flashy, but pleasing nonetheless. He was going to make a comment about it to Eruka, but she was already halfway to the history section.

"Hey, wait up!" Free cried as he hurried to catch up with her.

"I know it's here somewhere." Eruka mumbled as she entered the modestly sized exhibit. Old style antiquities from the Napoleonic era filled the room's white walls and much of its grey flooring. Eruka flitted quickly from object to object, her focused gaze swiftly examining each one. Free tried to keep up but found himself continually blocked by tourists. In the time it took for him to push them out of the way, Eruka would finish her examination and move on to the next antiquity. In the end, Free ended up stationing himself near the center of the room, watching the frog witch zip about the exhibit.

"She's just full a' energy today." He mused as he watched her examine the last of the antiques. Whatever it was she was looking for, it was definitely important to her. His curiosity as to what it could be was eating him alive. The fact that she was keeping it a secret only made him that much more interested. Lest he go insane, Free was going to have to figure out just what this mysterious item was. But how?

Free hadn't even realized that Eruka was heading towards the exit until she called after him.

"C'mon Free"

She always was good at avoiding detection.

"I'm comin'" Free replied as he caught up to her. The walls went from plaster to stone as they entered the Louvre castle exhibit. They were walking through the once filled underground moat as he began to wonder what else the frog witch was good at. Well, for one thing she was good at pranks. At least, she always made him laugh when he got the chance to see her pull them off. She wasn't much of a fighter though. Her friend, the mouse witch on the other hand…

"Hey Eruka, I ain't seen your mouse friend around lately. She's still alive right?"

Eruka gave him an amused look. "No the Mizunes aren't dead. They're actually very close by."

At this Free scanned the area. He hadn't noticed a luscious woman in their midst. Now, he wasn't the most observant guy on the block, but he was pretty sure he'd have noticed someone who flaunted their assets like Mizune did.

Eruka must have noticed his disappointed expression as she smirked and said "Their not in that form all the time you know. More often than not their bodies are a little more…subtle."

Free gave up searching for the elusive sisters. "Whatever, I guess. S'long as you know where they are."

For a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps on the wood flooring that held them just above the bottom of the moat. That bothered Free for some reason. Eruka wasn't a chatterbox, to be sure, but something about this silence was different. It felt oddly ominous, as though something direly important hadn't been said.

Then again it could've been the dungeon like atmosphere that pervaded the rock masonry underground. It reminded him of his time in jail, and how boring and uneventful it was. He'd have to remember to let himself get caught again sometime. This time in a place that had spoons. Then he could really reenact the "Shawshank Redemption". He chuckled to himself as a broad smile spread across his visage.

Suddenly, Eruka stopped walking. She turned to face her immortal acquaintance, locking her gaze with his. It was not the inquisitive stare he was used to. It was still probing yet, more directed. This wasn't just idle curiosity. There was something else laced in there with it…

"What?" Free asked.

Eruka swallowed, giving a quiet little croak. "Free, why did…" She stopped a moment. "Why did you follow me that day?"

"Which day?" Free asked.

"The day we freed the Kishin. The day we left everything behind." She paused. "The day we left Medusa."

"Oh, that day" Free replied, his smile reforming slightly, "Well, I didn't have much else to do at the time." He scratched his head idly. "I'd a' been bored to tears if I'd just stayed there." He started on his way into the next section of the castle exhibit dragging his hand on the rock walls

"But you could've gone back to Shibusen if you didn't want to be bored." Eruka rejoindered as she followed him. "They would've at least tried to fight you."

"That'd' a' been like kicking a dead horse. You don't get anything out a' it and you feel a little dirty when you're done."

"But really. Why me?"

Free grinned as he dropped a hand on the frog witch's shoulder. "Don't think about it too much. I sure as hell didn't."

---

Three exhibits later they reached the end of the castle section with Free no closer to discovering what exactly it was Eruka was after. Free decided it was time to go to plan B. With a decisive nod Free began the operation.

"Hey Eruka." Free asked as they entered a hallway lined with artifacts. "What exactly are you looking for?"

Eruka stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him. "Do you really need to know?"

Free took on a thoughtful expression "Well, I don't need to, but it'd ease my mind a bit. I mean, I'm here with you for a reason right? I can't help you find it if I don't know what I'm looking for."

At this Eruka turned to face him, wearing a sheepish expression. "Actually, I just, er…" She croaked involuntarily. "I just wanted your company." She swallowed. "I feel safer when you're around."

Free chuckled, "And here I thought you liked me for my upbeat personality." He crossed his arms "If you needed protection, all you had to do was ask."

The frog witch turned away from the immortal man. "I'll remember that."

Continuing down the hallway the pair came upon an archway entry that was marked off limits. Adorned with yellow do not cross tape, the archway framed a small sign that read:

ONE MONTH ONLY:

ABORIGINE ARTIFACT EXHIBIT

OPENING TOMORROW

"Free?" Eruka asked as she scanned the area for any nearby humans. "Could you keep watch out here? I need to check this out."

"A' course Eruka." Free replied as he found a wall to lean up against. "Don't take too long now."

"Sure." Eruka said as she transformed into a frog and hopped into the room.

---

The rest of their time at the Louvre was fairly uneventful, ending with a (in Free's case) large lunch in the right wing café. It seemed that Eruka never found what she was looking for, which, Free supposed was the reason she was so quiet on their way back to the apartment they'd rented in the area. He never did find out what she was after. It was just as well he supposed, though his curiosity was still peaked. He knew that if she wanted to keep a secret, he wasn't going to get it out of her. So he settled for discovering just how soft feather pillows and French bedding were to his relaxed form. He smiled as he drifted to sleep. He'd find out one way or another.

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More to come…

Tell me. Was it enjoyable? Or perhaps lacking in some manner? Good or bad, inquiring minds want to know.

Au Revoir


	2. A Night at the Louvre

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe or its characters

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 2

A Night at the Louvre

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Eruka sighed as she watched her acquaintance sleep. He looked much gentler when he was at rest. Breathing steadily in rhythm with the gentle rise and fall of his chest, one would never suspect he was a convict, or an immortal werewolf, let alone both. He could very easily rip a man to shreds with barely even an afterthought of remorse. It would be just as easy for him to rip _her _to shreds.

She bit back a nervous croak as she left the threshold of his room. He was a nice enough guy she supposed. At the very least, he never failed to amuse her. Still, it bothered her that she couldn't explain why he'd decided to follow her around. Moreover, that the man himself had failed to state his reasoning as well. That more than anything bothered her. People always had their reasons for doing things. Even Free, though a large portion of those reasons were whims. There was a good chance that the reason he'd followed her was just that: a whim. But what if it was something more sinister? And even if it wasn't, what if, on a whim, he decided to kill her?

As she made her way out of the apartment, she found that a cadre of mice had gathered behind her. She knelt down to their level. "Mizune, I'm going to need your help tonight." At this, the band of mice melded together to form a tall slender woman. Her style of dress was fairly immodest, though from her placid expression she didn't seem to notice. The woman nodded "How may I be of service?"

"Watch Free for me. Okay?"

Mizune cocked her head a little at this request. "What about you Eruka?"

Eruka shook her head "I've already gotten you into enough trouble already. I'll be fine Mizune."

The woman sighed "Be careful Eruka."

"Always."

With that Mizune dispersed, as the many mice that composed her returned to the shadows from whence they came.

---

Re-entry into the Louvre was a simple affair, even with the lights on for custodians and security. Her frog form allowed her to keep out of sight and avoid the more autonomous forms of security. The trick would be getting out undetected. She couldn't carry the artifact in frog form, and even if she could, it would hardly be inconspicuous.

She was going over how to deal with this when she approached the aborigine exhibit. She put thoughts of escape aside as she sensed the soul of a guard inside the exhibit. He didn't appear to be very strong, but that wouldn't matter if he was loud. This in mind she stuck to the shadows, scaling the inner walls of the exhibit in frog form and coming to rest on the ceiling just above the man.

As a frog she was already secreting a hydrating substance to keep her skin moist. It was a simple matter to increase production so that she could drop a more concentrated amount of the liquid on to an unsuspecting victim. It took two drops to get the guard to notice that some form of gunk was caking in his hair. Three drops later the man couldn't stand it anymore. He hurried out of the room to wash out his hair.

Eruka smiled. It would take hours for the guard to rid himself of that particular concoction. Plenty of time for her to take care of business. Summoning one of her larger tadpoles, she returned to her bipedal form and rode the tadpole down to the floor. She then summoned many smaller tadpoles, and set them about the business of finding and cutting the power to the alarm systems that she knew were present. This only took a few moments.

Alarms disabled, she turned her attention to the tribal masks, weaponry, and instruments of varying levels of enchantment that surrounded her. Under normal circumstances, these items would merely cause a chill to the spine of any sensitive human. However, with Asura's release their magical properties were heightened to a level of base sentience. Those who could sense such things, would notice this fact rather quickly.

The artifacts knew a witch when they saw one, all reaching out to her, tickling her senses with their magical energies. Asking, wishing, needing to be used. Though it was a significantly smaller ambience, it reminded her of the witch masses she used to attend. The difference was that all of the attention was on her. She relished this rare moment of adulation, basking in the unabashed desire that emanated from all sides. It was, in a word, intoxicating.

As much as she would've liked to remain in that state of bliss, there was work to be done. Focusing her senses, she searched for the artifact that had caught her attention while she and Free were trundling the Louvre earlier that day. It was only moments before she found it again, as its energies were somewhat distinct. It thirsted, much like the weapon Medusa's kid used, however, it appeared that it literally needed moisture to sustain itself. What really made it stand out was the fact that it very much reminded Eruka of herself. In basest terms it was something that was inextricably mixed with frog.

The artifact in question was inauspicious enough, hiding in a display case amongst many other ceremonial staffs. About one head longer than she was tall, the staff was bone white, adorned with etchings of frogs from every corner of the earth. She recognized most of the species represented, including one very large stylized one that sat at the center, drinking what she could only assume was the ocean into his enormous gullet. _Cyclorana platycephala_ was his species. Molok Tidallik was his name. She remembered stories from human circles about a greedy frog who drank the ocean, only to lose it all in a bout of laughter. Though she was doubtful that Molok had swallowed the entirety of the ocean, she was certain that the parched amphibian had existed at some point. If she had to guess, this staff was carved from one of his back legs.

"I can slake your thirst" she cooed as she reached for the artifact "If you'll let me use you." The artifact replied with a pleasant ripple of acceptance. She could feel the jealousy from the other artifacts in the room as she took hold of Molok.

"If I'm right about you, I may have a means of fighting back now." She noted, running a hand across the staff's etchings. Molok appeared to be eager for her to test its limits, but the frog witch shook her head. "Not yet." With this she sheathed Molok in a javelin holder she'd found in a corner of the room and started about the business of getting out of this museum undetected. It would definitely take some doing, but this was the sort of thing she specialized in.

She began slinking her way down the halls, avoiding both windows and guards without much trouble. It seemed that she was home free. Then the lights cut out. This was no cause for panic of course. The darkness only made it easier to escape. Then the cause of the power outage made itself known: crooks. _well-armed_ crooks. And organized too from the way they moved. Like some sort of special ops team. Eruka frowned. She should've known this wouldn't be so easy.

---

Free awoke to the face of a teenage pink-haired witch, gazing at him through squinting eyes. Sleep dampened surprise registered on his visage as he mumbled "The hell is this?" before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep. The young witch was not amused by this display, promptly delivering a slap to the groggy wolfman's face.

At this Free opened one eye lazily. "Whuz? Wha' you wan'?"

She shook her head in annoyance. "Eruka's in trouble." She accented the statement with a definitive "chi".

Whatever grogginess was in his demeanor left in an instant. He leapt out of the bed toppling the pink haired girl to the floor. Rushing to the balcony he sniffed the air, searching for Eruka's scent. When he found it, the scent was slightly unfamiliar. It was mingled with something else he didn't recognize. He couldn't tell what it was for the undercurrent of gun-smoke that was masking the second scent. "I'm comin' Eruka" Free said as he made to leap off the balcony. He stopped short, turning back to see the pink haired witch brushing herself off. A curious expression formed on his visage.

"Who are you?" He asked incredulously

She replied simply "I'm Mizune."

Free cocked his head slightly at the statement, but, noting that her scent was almost identical to that of the Mizune he saw at Shibusen, decided he'd find out how she turned her age back a few decades some other time. Right now he had a witch to save. In one fluid motion, he turned and leapt off the ledge into the streets below. Mizune heard the surprised cries of several humans through the balcony doorway. She shook her head. That man had no restraint.

---

Leaping off cars, awnings, buses, and whatever else stood in his way, Free blazed across the Louvre district. He knew he wasn't being very inconspicuous, but caution be damned if that meant not getting to Eruka in time. He didn't want to miss any of whatever was going down at the Louvre, and of course he didn't want the frog witch to die. He still owed her after all.

He arrived at the Louvre courtyard with only the light of the crazed moon that hung in the sky to illuminate the five men clad in black body armor who stood watch over the area. Free cracked his knuckles. It was time to go to work.

"Hey," he called out to the five, "You wouldn't a' happened to see a girl with long grey hair wanderin' around here, huh?"

The only reply was a gunshot from one of the five's silenced rifle. It caught Free in the chest, but garnered no reaction from him. "I'll take that as a no" he replied simply as the others quickly brought their guns to bear. He grinned evilly as he lunged forward. Their fear was almost palpable, and a delight to his heightened senses. It was unfortunate that it didn't last long. Free frowned slightly when he tossed the last of them asunder, the victim's broken body a mere echo of the pain he'd inflicted upon the other four.

"Guess they really didn't see her." Free said as he found Eruka's scent once more. He followed it to the cemented area that surrounded the glass pyramid. It looked rather barren without humans milling about, the fountains trying futilely to alleviate the ominously forlorn atmosphere.

Eruka's scent was all over this section of the courtyard. She'd apparently been a busy little witch before he'd arrived. This abundance of her aroma was a little problematic, but not insurmountable. He would just have to search the entirety museum, top to bottom, until he found her.

"Hold on, Eruka. Free's comin' for you"

---

Eruka cowered behind one of many large bullet ridden statues that filled this new room she'd been forced to hide in. She'd been unfortunate enough to run into one of the thieves as he was taking out a guard. The man had been quick to notice her presence and even quicker on the trigger of his silenced rifle. Without time to give an incantation, Eruka could only run for cover. Unfortunately, artifacts weren't bulletproof, and whatever it was these men were looking for wasn't in the section of the Louvre that they were in.

She'd taken a bullet to the shoulder during the commotion, which was why she was so relieved to find herself in one of the Louvre's sculpture rooms with its multifarious shadows and hiding places. Keeping silent, she treated her wound with a solidifying form of frog glop. She frowned nervously. Though she was in a better position than before, she was by no means in a position of advantage. From its position on her back, the staff seemed to echo that sentiment. She bit her lower lip, wracking her brain for a way out of this predicament. It always turned out like this. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't catch a break. Was she just destined to have bad luck? Considering what all else she'd been through, the notion wasn't that outlandish. Then again, she'd had the good fortune to survive it all, if one could call it that. Dumb luck was more like it.

A reassuring wave of magical energy rippled through her from the staff on her back. She smiled slightly. It might have been flattery in an effort to get her to use it, but the frog witch took what confidence she could from Molok's gesture. She slowly edged up to a standing position, a plan forming in her mind. Whispering ever so quietly, she manifested three small black smiling pellets in hand.

Kneeling to the floor, she took a pellet in each hand and rolled them towards opposite sides of the room. A moment later, both pellets exploded, spewing forth profuse amounts of smoke. As the thieves who were searching the room turned towards the explosions in surprise, Eruka sprinted for the room's exit. Unfortunately, one of the thieves had had the presence of mind to block the way out. It was regrettable for him that Eruka still had one bomb left. The man got one shot off as Eruka hucked the pellet at his face. The ensuing explosion sent the man crashing to the floor at the edge of the windowed hallway that connected to the sculpture room.

Shrouded in the newly set smokescreen Eruka quickly produced a stickier form of frog gunk, and swiftly scaled the walls of the adjacent hallway. It didn't take long for her to find a resting place on the darkened ceiling just above the sculpture room exit. Thrumming with anticipation Eruka held her breath as the smoke below dissipated.

Now five well armed men stood below the frog witch, all warily scanning the area. She could hear their frustrated ramblings as they found that she'd eluded their vigilant eyes once more. It was fortunate that none of them had the forethought to look up. Then again, she was certain none of them had reason to believe she could stick to ceilings. Not yet anyway.

She waited until the five had dispersed to search the rest of the Louvre before letting out a sigh of relief. She allowed herself to slide down the hallway's wall, landing lightly on the floor. Suddenly, she realized something with alarm: a weakened soul was still there in the hallway. She whirled about in time to catch sight of the man she'd caught with the explosive earlier. He was leveling an unsilenced pistol at her from a prone position.

"Ha" he said with breathless triumph as he pulled the trigger.

The staccato roar of the gun masked the sound of Eruka casting a retaliatory spell. The frog witch took a shot to the thigh, losing her footing as the affects of her spell kicked in. A giant tadpole appeared in front of her as she stumbled backwards. It absorbed the rest of the man's shots and charged him head on. She mouthed an apology to her oversized pet as she staggered into and through one of the hallway's windows.

As she fell from the second floor window, she wondered just how much worse her luck could get, and more importantly, if she'd survive long enough to see it turn around.

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More to come...

A bit of a change of pace I know, but that's where the story went.

Was it enjoyable? Good or bad let me know


	3. Twilight at Louvre's Edge

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe or its characters

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 3

Twilight at Louvre's Edge

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The gunshot was what had tipped her off to the frog witch's exact position in the Louvre. Even with her slightly enhanced sense of smell (being part mouse), distinguishing which patch of Eruka's scent was the real one had been quite the conundrum. Pondering a solution to this problem, as well as keeping watch for her two other sisters who'd arrived earlier and gone inside, Mizune hovered high above the museum, framed by this night's crazed moon.

When the shot was fired, Mizune honed in on the sound, and was just in time to see Eruka crash through one of the second story windows of the Louvre. Amplifying the strength of her propulsion magic, Mizune swooped in towards the falling frog witch. With deft speed and precision Mizune managed to intercept Eruka mid-fall. However, Mizune was still quite a bit smaller than her amphibious friend, and couldn't catch her properly. She only slowed Eruka's descent by a small margin. This however, was just enough time for the other Mizunes to zero in on their position and form a triangle formation to gently secure and lower Eruka to the ground. When they had landed safely, the sisters immediately combined, returning to the form of a teenage witch.

She cradled Eruka's head in her arms as she murmured "Why did I let you go alone Eru?"

Eruka smiled weakly at the question. "Because I asked you to." The frog witch shook her head. "There was no need to involve you."

"'Chi'. That's a lie and you know it." Mizune replied "You just didn't want me here."

"Never could fool you could I?" Eruka croaked as she tried to rise to her feet.

Mizune let Eruka use her shoulder for support, as she asked in a hurt tone, "Why Eruka?"

Mizune had always thought of her and Eruka as a team. Eruka needed the offensive capabilities of the Mizune sisters. Likewise the Mizunes needed Eruka's strategic guidance to be truly effective. They balanced each other out, and more importantly they were friends. Best friends.

At least that was how the Mizunes explained it all. That was why they were always with her at the witch masses. Why they'd stuck with her when they'd confronted Medusa for the first time. Why they'd allowed themselves to get caught up in Medusa's scheme to release the Kishin, despite Eruka's ardent warnings. And ultimately why they were still with her now.

Eruka's smile lessened slightly "You don't have to be here Mizune. You could've gone back. You could've told the witches at the mass that you were manipulated. They might've let you back in."

"But _you_ didn't go back Eru." Mizune replied

"That's because I've got a big blundering hulk of a reminder why I can't go back following me around." Eruka said resignedly "I released Free. The man who almost killed the leader of the witch clan and had the audacity to steal her left eye for his own ends."

Mizune noted that the derisiveness in Eruka's tone was fairly weak, tinged with something she was trying very hard to mask. Her efforts didn't fool Mizune, however. Hidden within Eruka's tone was, oddly enough, a twinge of awe. Mizune chuckled in her unique mousey way. The frog witch would probably deny it at every turn but deep down, she admired the big lummox. "Is that really so far off from releasing Asura?"

Eruka opened her mouth to make an indignant reply, but was silenced as a pistol shot resounded through the courtyard. She gave a weak croak as she took a bullet in her side.

Mizune, noting that the blast had come from the window Eruka had previously fallen out of, activated her propulsion magic and launched both her and Eruka to a shadowy corner of the Louvre courtyard, just out of range of the shooter's gun.

"Stay here Eruka" Mizune said as she lay the now half-conscious Eruka to the ground before muttering an incantation and producing pink slicer beams from her fingers. She held her hands across her face, imitating whiskers as she took an open stance. When her opponents leapt out of the second story Louvre window Mizune resolved that she would have to make this quick. Activating her propulsion magic once more, she launched herself at her enemies. "Don't die on me Eruka."

---

Eruka grimaced, holding her side in pain. It was getting harder to breathe as she willed herself to produce a solidifying solution to cover the wounds in both her side and thigh. Yet she could barely manage to produce a thick liquid at this point, much less a makeshift bandage. She croaked weakly as her vision began to blur, obscuring the Mizunes as they battled with the five remaining thieves. Eruka wasn't sure if she'd last until they were done.

Pleading waves of magical energy flowed from Molok on her back. Though she hadn't the presence of mind to grasp at and use these energies, she understood what was being said:

"Use me!"

She'd hoped she wouldn't have to do this so soon. Sentient items were always unpredictable, no matter how affable they seemed. She wasn't sure what would happen if she fed the weapon. However, regardless of how she felt about the situation, she didn't have much else in the way of choices at the moment.

The frog witch struggled to rise on one knee, brandishing Molok with her good arm. Hoping against hope that her suppositions were correct, she focused her efforts on producing a nutrient rich liquid to feed the magical artifact. Her consciousness was beginning to ebb as she felt energy begin to flow into her from Molok. A request was embedded in that energy:

"Let me help you."

Molok's messages were clearer now that she was in direct contact with the artifact. And as much as she didn't want to, she knew she would die if she didn't give Molok control. Slowing her breaths and concentrating on the link between her and Molok, she opened the floodgates of her soul so that Molok could work unfettered.

Suddenly, she could feel her wounds being slowly overtaken by the solidifying salve she'd tried to produce before. Then she realized that her body had begun to produce many other solutions, some of which she'd never known she could make. One of these solutions, a stimulant of sorts, began to flow through her circulatory system, numbing her pain while at the same time revitalizing her. Even more concoctions dispensed themselves within her, acting as healing accelerants.

In moments, Eruka was back on her feet, feeling far more energized than she ever had. Her wounds were all but gone, and she felt strong enough to take on Death himself. So why were her eyelids so heavy?

The realization dawned on her a moment too late. Molok had taken the opportunity to release sleep inducing endorphins into her system. With her in a deep sleep Molok could take full control of her body and do whatever it pleased. Eruka fought with all her might to keep her eyes open, even going so far as to hold her eyes open with her fingers. But it was to no avail. She fell into the sleep driven darkness, losing all conscious track of her surroundings in the black curtain that followed.

When she opened her eyes once more, she found that her environs had changed drastically. Dry cracked ground spread out from beneath her feet, rolling ever so gently into an infinite horizon. Night had turned to twilight, casting an eerily reticent orange glow upon the sparsely dispersed tufts of ragweed that speckled this otherwise barren landscape. The tall, thin grass blades waved in the wind that wafted across this wasted land. Eruka could feel the badland breeze flow across her neck, gently billowing her silver tresses towards the horizon. The place had a bleak sort peacefulness to it, which, for all intents and purposes, Eruka did not care for.

Finding herself in such a lonesome atmosphere, Eruka didn't expect the darkly regal voice that came from behind her.

"Why hello my dear."

Giving a startled croak, Eruka whirled about, producing a set of tadpole bombs in hand. However, she made no further move, held place by surprise at the new sight that graced her vision.

Wet muddy earth spread before her, leading to a swampy lake. Reeds and ragweed grasses reached out from the mist ridden waters oversized and oversaturated from the liquid feast in which they resided. Further into the lake was a small island, whose plant life was somewhat tamer than that which resided in the muggy waters. At the island's center stood a large weeping willow, whose drooping branches swayed listlessly in the still flowing badland breeze.

Leaning upon the tree in a rather relaxed manner was a silver haired man sporting clothes that seemed more suited to nomadic desert travel. Adorned with bangles, necklaces, and other trinkets of tribal origin that intermingled with more modern pouches, belts and bags, he gave off the air of a well traveled gypsy. Even with all these trinkets the man somehow managed to have a sense of elegance about him. The gypsy chuckled, producing a cane sized umbrella as he left the support of the willow.

"Eruka I presume?" He asked, casually raising the umbrella to his shoulder.

It took a moment for Eruka to speak. She could easily feel the man's soul energy from across the lake, and knew this was yet another battle she couldn't win. Of course, no one ever said it would have to come to that, but that didn't change the fact that the idea of it was unnerving.

"Yes. That's me" Eruka managed, pausing to swallow a nervous croak. "You're Molok, right?"

The gypsy flourished his umbrella as he bowed theatrically. "At your service, my dear."

Eruka flinched at the phrase. She wasn't used to being addressed in such an… archaic manner. Shaking off her discomfort, the frog witch tightened her grip on the tadpole bombs she had in hand. If the man before her was Molok, then there was little doubt that this badland swamp was her and Molok's respective soulscapes merged into one. Knowing that fact only raised a myriad of other questions, but before she could ask any of them, Molok made his own inquiry.

"I trust you found my services satisfactory?"

"The healing part of them, yes." Eruka answered in a guarded voice.

Molok chuckled at the statement. "I suppose I should apologize for putting you in a meditative state with so little warning. Alas, I was thoroughly engrossed with my duties."

Eruka bit back an indignant reply. The man before her seemed personable enough, but if there was one thing she'd learned from working under Medusa, it was never to trust first appearances. She wasn't about to give him a reason to surprise her.

Noting the frog witch's silence, Molok flipped the point of the umbrella to the ground and leaned forward upon it. "Now, whatever could be on your mind, I wonder? Plans of escape I'd assume, or perhaps something more curious?"

Eruka frowned as she asked "What do you want?"

Molok gestured towards the frog witch with his free hand. "Why, only what's best for you of course."

Eruka shook her head. "No one's that charitable."

"Is that so?" Molok replied raising a hand to his chin. "I find that hard to believe."

Eruka crossed her arms. "I find it harder to believe that you think that way."

"Oh?" Molok said amusedly "It would seem to me that the mistrustful see only lies in the words of those who cross their path." He pursed his lips "Then again, I haven't really given you reason to trust me. Other than healing your wounds of course."

"That was just so you could get me here."

"Perhaps it was."

"Then why?"

"You seem to have a fairly active imagination Eruka." Molok replied, popping open his umbrella. "I'll let you concoct a reason that best suits your beliefs."

Eruka frowned as raindrops began to fall from the oddly clear twilight sky above. "What are you going to do with my body?"

The gypsy chuckled once more. "Why, I'm going to use it of course. That much should be clear to you. "

Eruka bit her lower lip. "For what?"

"Oh, there are some people I'd like to meet." Molok answered as the light drizzle became a torrent of rain. He turned back to the weeping willow at his island's center. "Until then, my dear. Au revoir."

Before Eruka could give a reply, Molok had already stepped into the willow and out of sight.

A long moment of silence passed as the gravity of Eruka's predicament set in. Mulling over the situation at hand for a few moments, the frog witch brought a hand to her head in distraught frustration as she found that she didn't know what was going to happen next. All she knew was that it couldn't be good. Indeed, in the best case scenario, she'd be set free, with whatever crime against humanity, witches or whoever it was Molok was after attributed to her. In the worst case scenario, she'd be trapped here forever.

In either case, her luck wasn't turning around anytime soon.

"Goddamnshit" she muttered under her breath.

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More to come…

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	4. Black Midnight in the Louvre District

I do not own the Soul Eater Characters or their universe nor do I intend to garner revenues from using either of the intellectual properties

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 4

Black Midnight in the Louvre District

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Where the hell was she? He'd rushed to the sound of the gunshot as fast as he could, but only managed to find a smoke stained hall and the shattered remains of a broken window. Her scent was all over the place, and it was driving him nuts that he just couldn't _see_ her.

Focusing his senses, Free managed to separate a large patch of her scent that moved toward the window through the smoke laden ambience that masked it. Following the trail to the courtyard, Free caught sight of Mizune battling a cadre of black clad men as he leapt out of the window. She appeared to have already defeated three of her adversaries, and was already moving in for the kill on one of the two that remained. The other was trying his hardest to shoot the elusive witch.

Landing and lunging in one fluid motion, Free bounded towards the unsuspecting gunman, leaping into a flying roundhouse kick. He caught the man squarely in the back of the head, sending him face first into the ground. The unfortunate thief slid quite a ways before his momentum wore off.

When Free turned to see what had happened to Mizune's opponent, he smiled approvingly. She'd disposed of the poor soul in an efficient but rather messy manner. Suffice to say what remained of the ill-fated thief was better left unsaid.

Free gave an impressed whistle "You don't hold back much do you?"

Mizune didn't appear to hear the comment a she turned to the lawn covered section of the courtyard.

"Eruka. Please be okay." Mizune half whispered before activating her propulsion magic and flying back to her friend's side.

That was all Free needed to hear. His legs moved of their own accord, launching him into such a powerful lunge that he overtook Mizune, landing just within the, apparently unconscious, frog witch's vicinity. Moving in closer, he breathed a brief sigh of relief as he found that the scent of misplaced blood was absent from her aromatic ambience.

He drew his eyes across her sleeping form, searching for wounds or broken bones. Nothing looked out of place. She didn't appear to be in pain either, as her expression spoke neither of anguish or joy. It was just blank and indifferent. Not so out of the ordinary he supposed, but still, something about it seemed out of place.

Free was scratching his head in thought as Mizune skidded to a halt beside him. "Is she okay?" she cried as she immediately went to Eruka's side.

"I think so." Free replied unsurely. It was the scent that was bothering him. Eruka's was there of course. Her scent was fine, neither possessing the twinge of rot nor the spice of blood. A different, vaguely familiar scent was mingled with it however. It resembled the one he'd smelt earlier, when he'd first caught her scent on the balcony of the apartment. He still couldn't place what it reminded him of, though he was certain he'd smelled it before that time.

Mizune registered a sizable amount of surprise when she examined the frog witch's body and found Free's earlier tentative claim to be true. "Where'd the shots go?"

Free wore a slightly befuddled look as he knelt down beside the mouse witch. "What shots?"

Mizune frowned as she stood up. "She got shot three times." She began to point at the now unblemished patches of Eruka's skin where the wounds should've been. "Once in the shoulder, thigh and stomach." Mizune shuddered. "I wasn't sure if she'd make it."

Free shrugged, scooping the sleeping Eruka into his arms. "Well, it looks like she did." He hadn't realized until now just how dainty the frog witch was. She acted so much older than her age, he sometimes forgot how young she really was. But now, with her sleeping peacefully in his arms, it was very apparent that there was still time before she reached adulthood.

Hopefully that time wouldn't be wasted.

"Let's get her back to the apartment" Free said as he shifted Eruka to a slightly more secure position.

"Chi" Mizune replied simply, as she positioned herself at Free's side.

---

At the behest of Mizune, Free had taken a much less fervent pace than he had when he first got wind of Eruka's peril. He didn't mind this more casual pace though. Indeed, he was quite enjoying it. He'd even begun to hum the tune "Bateau Mouche" as he strode through the Louvre district. After all, it looked like Eruka wasn't in immediate danger at the moment. That in itself was cause enough for a little levity.

More than that though, walking down the streets of the Louvre district with Eruka in his arms and Mizune at his side reminded him of the old times. Back before the meisters had made his clan "obsolete". Before Death had decided that the wolf-men didn't suit his image. Back in the days when Free had a purpose and a future.

When they arrived at the apartment, Free stationed himself in the witches' shared room, sitting on Mizune's bed and watching Eruka rest in hers. Mizune sat beside him, her worry very apparent in her expression. He didn't blame her. Something strange had happened in that courtyard. He had no idea what though, and he was sure that that same notion was bothering Mizune.

"Don't worry too much about it Mizune." Free said with a reassuring smile, "Whatever happened back there can't be that bad. It healed her after all."

Mizune frowned, responding with an uncertain "Chi…"

Free's smile lessened, but only slightly. "Well, whatever happened, she ain't dead." He made a show of leaning in to observe the frog witch and nodded resolutely "Yep, she's still breathing" He emphasized the statement with an exaggerated thumbs-up. "an' will be for a long time if I've got anything to say about it."

Mizune stifled a giggle as a wan smile developed upon her visage "Chi, Chi." She murmured as she breathed a restful sigh. She said nothing more, her gaze never leaving her still slumbering friend.

For a short while Free didn't interrupt the silence that hung in the room. However, it didn't take long for him to start fidgeting. It started simply enough, as he began to tap out a steady rhythm with his feet on the carpeted floor. Then the beat became syncopated, as Free began to nod his head ever so slightly to his foot fever. His tempo slowed by minuscule margins as the minutes passed, the syncopation becoming less and less pronounced. In time his feet came to a restful tender rhythm, as Free settled on a time signature and tempo. Somewhere in the evolution his rhythm, the immortal man began to gently hum a few bars in a minor key.

A dark lullaby became the ambience of the room, as Free's gruff baritone voice somehow managed to be gentle and soft. Mizune listened with quiet appreciation, swaying instinctually to the wolf-man's song.

"You seem happy Free" Mizune noted with a small smile.

Free nodded, his mouth shaping into a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I think I am." He gave his right hand an appraising look as he continued his song.

"Chi," Mizune began in a far off tone. "I wonder why that could be?"

Free stopped for a moment, considering the question. He never really stopped to ask himself those kinds of questions. Questions of motive. It wasn't that such introspective questions were beyond a simple guy like himself. Nah, he could wax on and on about his reason for living if he really wanted to. But that was just it: he really didn't want to. That'd make him that much closer to those high and mighty meisters at Shibusen. Plagued with lofty goals and morals, he doubted any of them were free like he was.

Free to live, to love, to hate, to eat, to starve, or even not do anything at all. It seemed that the only thing he couldn't do was die and that was something he was fine with.

It was a wonder that he still remembered the old days with fondness. Then again, that was back when Free had a purpose. Back when people needed him. It'd be pretty greedy of him to ask for both freedom and a pupose. And Yet…

He looked from Mizune to Eruka a roguish grin developing upon his visage "Guess it's just the dog in me."

"Chi, Chi?" Mizune pursed her lips curiously "I don't think I understand."

Free shrugged "I'm not sure if I get myself sometimes."

Mizune giggled at the statement, an amused smile forming on her lips. She opened her mouth to make a reply but stopped abruptly.

She frowned turning towards the room's balcony "Someone else is here."

Free followed her gaze to a haggard man in bandages and charred black sneaking gear "Looks like I missed one." Free noted with an increasingly sadistic smile.

"Give me the girl and the staff." The man demanded leveling a gun at Free's head. He obviously didn't realize how little of a threat such weapons presented to an immortal. "Do that and you live."

Nope. He definitely didn't know what he was dealing with. Or who for that matter.

As Mizune tensed to make a quick move, Free dropped a hand on her shoulder. This was enough to mollify the mouse witch, who then clasped her hands in her lap and waited patiently.

Free smirked as he stood. It seemed Mizune trusted him far more than Eruka did.

Taking his time, Free stretched to his full height while cracking his neck and knuckles a few times. "Take your best shot." Free challenged.

"Suit yourself" The man replied, unfazed by Free's lack of concern. However, instead of taking his shot, the man stepped forward, tripping over his own feet and toppling to the floor.

Free frowned, disappointed. It wasn't any fun if they didn't put up a fight. He didn't notice the glint from outside the balcony on the roof of a nearby building. A resounding crack issued forth from that direction, heralding the high caliber bullet that threw itself through Free's brain.

The immortal man staggered backwards, his head spinning. Immortality didn't free one from pain, or the adverse affects of the more severe types of injury that could be inflicted upon oneself. At the moment all of his mental faculties were somewhat scrambled, his head throbbing immensely. Had he had the full use of his information processing facilities, he'd have registered the marked increase in black clad thieves in the general vicinity.

Blind deaf and dumb, Free grinned manically as he gathered his wits about him, his brain slowly going about the process of reforming itself.

"Tricky little bastard aintcha?" Free half-snarled as he made an uncharacteristically haphazard lunge in the original gunman's direction. He managed to catch hold of some poor fellow's arm, promptly snapping it and chucking the man into a wall taking several others with him.

Free's sense of smell came back first, filling his nostrils with the scent of blood and bullets. He gave a cry as he lunged for the nearest human smell, throwing a blind thrust kick ahead of himself. This caught an unlucky thief in the chest, sending him and two others flying off the balcony.

"Did I getcha, Bandages!?" Free shouted as he charged after another mass of human scent. At this point his hearing came back. Just in time for him to hear a collection of unfamiliar grunts as he charged through a cluster of enemies.

"No answer huh!?" Free cried as he threw a flying knee in the direction of a gunshot. He was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as he caught another unknown assailant in the face.

"Well, no worries buddy!" Free continued as his sight began to unscramble. Damn if they weren't breaking a lot of fire codes. There were so many people in here. Free reached into the sea of black, ears ringing as gunshot after gunshot berated them. Free pulled an unlucky man in close, giving him a debilitating punch to the stomach before slinging him over his shoulder.

"I've got all the time in the world to find you!" Free yelled as his sight finally cleared. Taking hold of the man on his shoulder, Free began to wield him like a club, swinging for the fences with each attack as he began to clear out the rest of the room, searching for the original offender.

It was a good thing that Free's pain processing was the last thing to kick in. Otherwise, he'd have lost his momentum to the wave of delayed bullet wound pangs that washed over him in the span of a second. Apparently, he'd been shot _quite_ a few times.

Free staggered a bit, but kept his eyes up and alert. Only a few men were left, and they didn't seem all that keen on fighting anymore.

Sure enough, as soon as Free stood to his full height, the remaining invaders scurried out of the apartment, using whatever means they could.

"That was short." Free said as he turned back to Eruka's resting place…only to see that she wasn't there anymore.

"God. Damn. Shit." Free growled as he fervently scanned the room.

Where the hell was that frog witch now?

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	5. Rushing Dawn in the Louvre District

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe or its characters

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 5

Rushing Dawn in the Louvre District

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Eruka stared hard at the weeping willow which stood in the central island of the soulscape swamp. Despite the ease with which Molok had managed to phase into the tree, Eruka found that the tree's bark covered carapace was as solid as ever. She frowned as she ran her hands across the willow's rough outer coating. It'd been at least an hour since she'd conversed with Molok and all she'd managed to do was get soaked in the rain, muddy in the swamp and covered in an inordinate amount of fuzz from a particular brand of plant life she didn't recognize. Oddly enough, she didn't much care for clingy substances that came from places other than the pores on her own body.

Eruka sighed in frustration as she did her best to clear off the substances and dry herself. She hated being stuck like this. Once again, she was at the mercy of a more powerful being with no real means of escape. The frequency with which this situation kept occurring was more than a little bit irksome to her. First it was Medusa, then Free, then (if only briefly) Asura, and now Molok. Eruka could only imagine who would be the next to cast their shadow upon her.

This all started because Free had seen fit to do just that. He kept following her around wherever she went. Then again, he'd never actually done anything to her. At least nothing abjectly malicious. He certainly didn't squish her under his feet, that was certain.

Of course there was a good reason for her to be afraid of him. That guy was absurdly strong, and, as far as she could tell, couldn't be killed. If he decided he wanted to, there'd be nothing stopping him from killing her or worse.

Yet, he never did. He never hurt her, was hardly ever cross with her, and had never asked more than she was capable of. Had he ever even asked for her to do anything for him? Not that he would ever need her help, but then, she was fairly certain that Medusa hadn't _really _need her help either. The snake witch had used Eruka to make her work go faster. She could've freed Free on her own, and commanded him directly on the night of Asura's release.

But that wasn't how it went was it? No, Eruka had been the one to release Free. Maybe that was why. Maybe he felt he owed her for his freedom. He'd said as much to Medusa on the matter. But that was Medusa, not her.

She sighed. As simple as Free was, he was a hard man to figure out. Or maybe she was just making it that hard?

She frowned as she circled the willow for what must've been the hundredth time. She was certain that the willow represented some form of focal point as far as her and Molok's souls were concerned. The fact that Molok could so easily lock her out of it was more than a little bit disconcerting.

Sighing in frustrated disappointment as she finished her circle about the tree, Eruka crossed her arms. This was getting her nowhere. She needed another approach. But what could she possibly do? Biting her lower lip in thought, Eruka made to lean her back on the willow. If the tree wasn't going to divulge its secrets to her, then the least it could do was serve as a support as she mulled out a solution on her own.

Much to the frog witch's chagrin, the willow's bark encrusted shell refused to even do that. Eruka gave a surprised yelp as she tumbled into the willow, landing hard on her back. She remained there for a long moment staring in resigned annoyance at the darkness that now lay above her. She croaked indignantly as she rose to her feet, dusting herself off and regaining her composure.

The inside of the willow was a great deal larger than its outer shell suggested, its gnarled and jagged walls extending into an infinite darkness on either side of her. Ahead of her, a grey fog obfuscated a figure that was leaning over a large workbench. She couldn't tell what was on the workbench or who it was the stood there in the mist, although the answer to the second question wasn't hard to guess.

"Molok." She said in a guarded tone.

"Hm?" Molok replied, turning as the fog cleared "My, my, what a surprise. And just in time too."

Eruka bit back a comment regarding the nature of Molok's "surprise" at her appearance. She knew as well as he did that she only got in here because he let her. Instead she inquired on something to which she didn't already know the answer to. "Just in time for what exactly?"

"Ah, pardon my rudeness." Molok replied with an apologetic bow. "One should greet his charge before vexing her. Good morning my dear."

Eruka flinched. She still wasn't used that form of address. "Eh, right hi." She made a mental note to deal with well-to-do speech patterns more naturally.

"And to answer your question, well, you'll see soon enough."

Again, she held her tongue, opting to go along with whatever little game the gypsy was playing. At least until she found a way to get around him. It took a smidgen of effort to produce a fake smile in response to Molok's non-answer. "Sooner than later I hope"

"Or later than sooner, perhaps." Molok replied as he dug into one of his many pouches and produced an old fashioned measuring tape as well as a yard stick that was far longer than its holding bag would allow. "It all depends on how perceptive you are."

Eruka raised an eyebrow at that statement. So it really was a game to him, wasn't it? It made a certain amount of sense of course. Asura was about the only powerful being she knew of who didn't play with his food, although she couldn't certain considering she'd only seen him for a short while. The fact that Molok appeared to possess that quirk gave her a little bit more confidence.

She still had to tread carefully though. If this one was anywhere near as savvy as Medusa was, he could easily deal with any curveballs she threw him. Better to give him some easy bases, than to risk a homerun. She didn't have to win. She just had to avoid losing. To that end, all she had to do was keep the game going.

There was one crucial question though: just what was Molok's game?

Lost in her thoughts, Eruka hadn't noticed that the gypsy had moved in closer, discerning eyes fixated upon her arm.

"If you'll hold still, please." Molok requested as he took hold of her arm and drew the measuring tape across it. "This may take a few moments."

Though she was more than mildly uncomfortable with this, Eruka managed not to move. This was a part of the game. She knew that much.

Molok rolled the tape measure up and stood back. Producing a pencil and note pad in one hand, and a pair of reading glasses in the other he jotted down a few notes before once again unraveling the measuring tape.

"Arms out please." He requested

Eruka complied, inwardly working to decipher this man's motives from what she'd seen so far. She knew there was an overall reason for all of his actions. That was the way these games always worked. If she waited long enough he'd show her. She just had to keep the game going.

---

The Mizune sisters shot through the air in their standard V-formation, high above the streets of the Louvre district where a charred, heavily bandaged man was making his escape with a certain frog witch's body. Somehow he'd managed to secure her to the back of a motorcycle, and he was now weaving in, out and about early morning traffic.

When Free got shot in the head, he'd actually staggered backwards, something that, at least from Eruka's descriptions, meant trouble of the worst kind. Mizune (in her teenager) form, sent word to her two remaining sisters to take out any thieves in the general vicinity before returning to Eruka's side. Mizune herself had started about the business of clearing the room while Free regained his senses.

However, when Free yelled something to the effect of not being able to see, Mizune made a point of leaving the area with Eruka in tow. The last thing she needed was to get caught by the wild swings of a blind werewolf.

Unfortunately, there were other things to worry about just outside the apartment's bottom floor. Namely a firefight between the black clad thieves and the newly arrived, steadily growing police presence at the scene.

She took a stray shot to the leg and crumpled to the floor under Eruka's weight before she could make a decisive move. This gave Bandages, (who'd managed to follow Mizune undetected) the opportunity he needed to nab the frog witch and escape out a window in the back of the apartment's mezzanine.

Mizune was quick to call her sisters to her side, and return to her youngest form. The five of them fanned out high above the louvre district, and made short work of finding the escaping man. They were now poised above him in attack formation, ready for an assault.

They lowered their formation down to street level, splitting, squeezing, and tilting to avoid the many vehicles that were coming their way.

Bandages, noticing the distinct sound of Mizune's afterburners, took a fleeting glance backwards before hitting the gas. He drove with one hand, holding the other behind him to fire at his pursuers.

The Mizunes broke formation staying low so as not to lose the thief, and sweeping through the traffic with practiced ease and precision. They managed to not lose any distance to their quarry, though his bullets kept them from closing in.

However, as they came to a street corner, Bandages found a split in the road that cut around the lamppost at the corner's center. He slid into the adjoining road, grasping the handles of his motorcycle with both hands. The Mizunes followed suite, slicing through the lamppost in the process.

Now they were on a slightly larger road, going against the early morning traffic, which consisted of four cars. Bandages weaved a wandering S through the first three cars, firing a spray of shots at the fourth.

The Mizunes only needed to raise their altitude slightly to avoid the first three vehicles, however, the fourth's driver panicked and swerved hard to its side flipping just high enough to be level with the Mizunes.

All but the front most Mizunes scattered, with the foremost of them cutting clean through the vehicle. This gave Bandanges the time to spy a van filled parking lot on the edge of the street corner.

Once again, the thief executed a slide, this time extending one hand to fire a grappling hook into one of the parked vans. He cut an absurdly tight corner, heading for the Rue de Rivoli, a street parallel to the Louvre's courtyard walls.

However, his turn wasn't quite tight enough, as the lead Mizune shot through Bandages' turning tether, easily cutting it in twain.

Bandages was thrown out into the middle of the street with barely any control over his trajectory. He skidded to halt in the middle of the street, an oncoming bus ahead of him, and a reassembled flying V of angry Mizunes behind him. He cursed vehemently as he tried to start the motorcycle again.

---

Meanwhile inside of the frog witch that everyone was after, Molok had just finished his measuring of Eruka's head. In the time it had taken for the gypsy to measure out the rest of her proportions, Eruka found that she was still drawing a blank as to what the man wanted. However, she did realize that he was either oblivious to her expressions or didn't care that she was trying to figure him out, and now made no pretense at hiding her calculating frown.

Molok had never made any pretenses to begin with, and was now smiling, pleased with himself for some reason. He pulled out his pad and pencil once more, his smile not dissipating, as he jotted down some more notes.

"Good, good" He murmured, effortlessly flipping both pencil and pad into one of his many pouches "This will work perfectly"

Eruka's eyes narrowed incredulously "What will work perfectly?"

"That would be telling, my dear." Molok said with an admonishing shake of his head. He paused a moment, producing a small yet ornate comb from yet another of his pouches "Why don't you mull over it a bit more. I'm certain you'll discover a bit of my reasoning." He then tossed the comb to her. "Also, I noticed your hair's become a little haggard. I'd hate for such a rare specimen to go to waste."

He turned to back to his workbench reconvening the fog. "Ciao"

Eruka stood stark still for a long moment, rolling the comb thoughtfully in her right hand. Her eyes narrowed in thought. One thing was quite obvious to her: he wanted to use her body as his own. That made a fair amount of sense considering he had no body of his own. The fact that he'd taken measurements of all of her proportions suggested that he wanted to make something for her body. More than likely something for his use when he found "the people he'd like to meet" But what could he make from in here? Salves, chemical cocktails, and solidifying gunk if he used her facilities like he had before. If he wanted solidifying armor he wouldn't need any specific measurements, just large amounts of magical energies to reinforce it. So just what was he making? There was something else too.

"_Why, only want what's best for you, of course."_

Considering his cordial nature and the fact that he hadn't made a move to hurt her, it wouldn't be so far of a stretch to think that he needed her to be in one piece for whatever his designs were. Not just in body, but in soul. That would explain why her swampy portion of the soulscape even existed. Not only that, but it was in fairly good condition. If Molok had intended to give himself a true advantage, he wouldn't have merged their soulscapes. No, he would've simply taken her to his soulscape and done whatever he pleased with her.

She shuddered at the thought of it.

Thankfully, that wasn't what had happened. But that didn't really clear things up by any margin.

As Eruka continued to piece together the puzzle that was Molok's true motives, the fog that blocked her view of the gypsy dispersed, unveiling the man's still pleased expression. Behind him, a holograph-like screen blinked into view. It showed a tilted street and an oncoming bus.

"I hope you're ready my dear." Molok said as he produced a pair of wired work gloves and put them on "The show's about to begin."

And with a grandiloquent flourish Molok took the stage.

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More to come…

I must apologize for the delay. Pressing business and all that

In any case, was it enjoyable? Or perhaps not?

Either way let me know


	6. Morning at Louvre's Edge

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe or its characters

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 6

Morning at Louvre's Edge

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Daylight was fast approaching as more and more cars began to flood the streets. Free once again found himself flipping lunging and leaping off of whatever foothold he could find, flying through the Louvre district with such a speed as to blur his view of his surroundings. His goal was the same, and it appeared that she was in the same location as the last time. The only difference was that he knew what that irritatingly familiar smell was now.

How could he forget it? Even with all the time that had passed, one would think the scent of a fellow immortal would be immediately familiar to him. Then again, he had forgotten a lot of things when he went the witches' jail.

Free could only wonder what the guy was up to. He always was a slippery character, evading even death's wary gaze on a few marked occasions. It made sense that he was able to hide for so long. But why would he resurface now?

He frowned to himself as he crushed a car under foot.

This was becoming more and more like the old days by the second. Facing off against humans and monsters alike to protect someone who, for all he knew, hated his guts. Just like those days, he was one step behind the enemy. And just like in those old days he never seemed to catch a break.

Of course, if this had really been back then, old skull face would've had some choice words for him. Always did. Probably always would have if he'd continued to work under the black clad harbinger.

But that wasn't how things were. Far from it. Free couldn't go back into the fold if he tried. But then, did he even really want to?

One would think that after a good few centuries of protecting humanity for "the greater good" as Death put it, he'd never think of doing anything else. Yet after the jailbreak, he'd found himself in direct opposition to his former master, serving the witches that Death had worked so hard to keep in check.

He scowled. Meisters. An army of replacements for the original protectors of humanity. Replacements for the Immortal Clan. Replacements for Free. Maybe that was why he'd followed Medusa: indignity. He'd been tossed aside like so much trash by Death, being of use to anyone, even a witch, was an endeavor he could put himself behind. The fact that she was undoing Death's hard work to create Shibusen and the meisters had been the final nail in the coffin.

He flipped onto an awning and sprung up to the roof tops, easily managing to hold his lunging stride.

So why was he following Eruka? Why did he latch on to her all of a sudden? He wasn't sure of the reason, but it felt right somehow. Why was that? Did it even matter?

He sighed. Eruka must've rubbed off on him without his noticing. Now he was over-thinking things.

Just then he came across the Rue de Rivoli, where a fairly abnormal sight sat. There in the middle of the road lay a horrendously mangled bus, accompanied by a motorcycle that was shredded into fine little bits. Some form of sludge was dispersed across the entirety of the scene with a fair amount of caked in a trail towards the Louvre courtyard that lay adjacent to the street.

"The hell?" Free muttered as he leapt down to the center of the street. It looked a lot like the stuff that Eruka was capable of making, though that wasn't her scent on it.

"Shit" Free muttered as he launched into the courtyard, following the trail into the courtyard

There were several scents in the air besides that of the gunk. Mizune's was there along with Bandages' one. Gunpowder and exhaust were also laced into the aromatic ambience. It was faint but Eruka's scent was there too, hidden beneath it all, in an almost unnoticeable fashion.

"Shit, Shit" Free repeated. The immortal's scent was blocking her scent from him. There were a lot of things that were implied by this, things that Free would not allow himself to dwell on. They all meant trouble in the end.

This in mind Free quickened his pace launching to the center of the courtyard and lunging northward following the scent to a large fountain in the center of a tussled sand laden circular path. Black clad thieves lay strewn about the path in varying levels of disfigurement, with a fair amount of them being covered in the gunk Free'd followed into the courtyard

And at the center of it all stood a tall slender silver haired woman. She was wearing the same black outfit that Bandages' thieves had worn, presumably lifted from one of the many ones that had died there. At the moment she appeared to be thoroughly engrossed in examining the fountain.

"I know you're in there Molok" Free called out coarsely "Where's Eruka?"

"Surely you've already guessed" the woman replied with a silken chuckle. "You always were somewhat dense, but I think the answer is fairly obvious."

The voice had matured a bit, but there was no mistaking it. That was Eruka's body "You're lucky Molok. If it had been anyone else I'd have ripped you to shreds by now."

"Not lucky. Smart." Molok replied, turning away from the fountain "Had my first possession been anyone else, I still would have sought her out. She's such a perfect fit you see."

Free's eyes widened slightly, a surprised expression forming upon his visage. An older more confident Eruka now stood before him. Her expressive eyes and mischievous smile were still in tact, though a much more refined form of cunning lay behind them.

Free shook his head a bit, a dark frown replacing his surprise. "You took away her youth."

Molok smiled at this "I needed her abilities to be at a higher level than they were. What better way to do that than to push the body towards a more mature state."

Free's frown didn't budge "You're taking away her future."

"Tis a small price to pay for power." The gypsy chuckled "I would think you'd understand that more than anyone. Or wasn't it the fact that you took that witch's eye as your own the reason Death didn't send anyone after you?"

"Maybe" Free growled "But I won' let you take her. I won' let you do to her what Death did to me."

"What? Use her?" Molok jeered. "I thought being used was your specialty Free. Why would you care if it happened to someone else?"

"Cause she ain't like me." Free growled "She's got smarts. She could really make something of herself. Unlike me, she could have a future if she got the chance. Cause she'd figure out what to do. An' I'm gonna make sure she gets that chance."

"I don't think you have a say in the matter." Molok replied as gunk began to flow out across his host. "I doubt you could seriously hurt this witch in good conscience."

At this Free smiled darkly "I was never good at holding back." With that he launched forward, leading with a roundhouse kick aimed at his adversary's midsection.

Molok slid under the attack in an unnatural fashion, dropping to the ground and using the gunk on his host's body to carry himself away.

"If your conscience will be clean." he said as the sludge pushed his host to her feet. "Then try to make this entertaining." The gunk on the body solidified into a coral like armor, as even more filtered out to form large amorphous extensions to the host's arms. "I would enjoy a good challenge."

Molok then lashed out with said extensions, thrusting and swinging the sludge based arms at an incoming Free. He only managed to launch four attacks before Free was in range for a physical attack again.

This time Free thrust his right leg forward in an effort to strike his enemy's chest. Molok's response was to throw his host's body to the side, desolidifying his armor just long enough to produce hundreds of tiny tendrils to carry the body across the ground in an expedient manner.

Free, easily flowing from the missed kick into a powerful lunge, leapt over the skittering witch host, landing just in front of her head. He moved to snatch her off the ground, but Molok was prepared for the attack.

The tendrils Molok had used to move his host, came together to form one giant pillar of sludge. This launched the gypsy parasite high into the air, with just enough time to rebuild his host's arm extensions and strike at Free's head.

Free spun to the left of the attack, catching the tendril in hand while doing so. He made to pull on the extension to bring Molok into close range. However, the arm dissipated almost immediately after he got a good grasp of it.

Molok used his remaining sludge arm to cushion his landing and spring up to the top of the courtyard fountain, where he hung using a gunk tether from his host's back. He smiled mockingly through his vessel.

"I thought you said you had trouble holding back." Molok said with mock disappointment. "You're never going to catch me like that."

"Then I guess I'll have to try harder" Free said with a crazed grin as he began to chant. As he did this the iris and pupil of his left eye began to fade away, a glowing runic symbol taking their place on the ball of that eye.

Molok shook his head pityingly. "You do realize that there's no way you'll do this without harming her, right?"

Free's smile didn't waver "You do realize that if you're going to keep yourself alive in this battle you're going to have to keep her alive, right?"

Molok smiled amusedly. "Sometimes you amaze me with your animal intuition. I very much doubt she'd like the idea of you accidentally hurting her beyond even my restorative capabilities."

"Then you'd better try not to die. You're not leaving here with her. And I'm not leaving here without her."

With that Free began another chant as he launched himself toward his adversary once more. Molok sprung out from his perch using the gunk tether to swing around the precipice of the fountain. The gypsy released the tether just in time to throw his host further into the courtyard towards a roundabout street that lay in front of the Louvre.

Free finished his chant in mid-air, making a hand motion as he bounced off of the fountain precipice. He cast a spell to summon a wall of ice just ahead of Molok. The parasite acted quickly, firing out a patch of gunk to cushion his collision. Sticking to the wall of ice, Molok looked back just in time to see Free launching himself off of an icy cylinder that he'd conjured in mid-air.

The gypsy took a flying punch to the gut, breaking through the ice wall, and flying the rest of the way to the roundabout. He managed to cushion his landing, surrounding himself in an outer-shell of sludge and rolling to the edge of the Louvre's glass pyramid area.

He took his time getting up as he healed the cuts and bruises to his host's body. "That idiot's actually trying to hurt me." He muttered with a small chuckle. "After all these years you still don't have a plan of attack." He shook his head "I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

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More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way, inquiring minds want to know.


	7. Crepuscular Sunrise in the Louvre Yard

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of Soul Eater or its characters

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 7

Crepuscular Sunrise in the Louvre Courtyard

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"That idiot" Eruka muttered, bringing a beleaguered hand to her brow. She couldn't help but blush as her immortal associate's words echoed through her head once more.

"_Unlike me, she could have a future if she got the chance."_

It was rather embarrassing really. No one had ever thought so highly of her. Even Mizune, who certainly cared for her, knew as well as she did that ambition just wasn't suited to a frog or mouse.

And yet here was this idiot wolf-man who she hardly knew saying that she could be somebody. That she could do something amazing if she tried. She'd have been able to blow it off as a joke or misguided ramblings if it weren't for the fact that some part of her believed him.

Why? She wasn't quite sure. He certainly wasn't all that close of a friend. After all, she'd originally come here looking for a means to stave off the immortal beast if he turned on her. He'd followed along of his own accord in an almost unquestioning manner. At the very least, he never really pressed the issue of why they were there. He'd only asked once. It was like he trusted her or something.

Only Mizune did that. She was the only one who really trusted Eruka as a friend, ally, and confidant. They aided and protected each other whenever the need arose, and always tried to stay together. It was partially for mutually assured safety, but mostly because they genuinely cared about each other.

Free didn't need her for his safety. That went without saying. So he wasn't like Mizune in that regard. But what about the others? What if he really just cared about her? Could that actually be it? If the fight carrying out on the display screen ahead of her was any indication, the answer was a very strong… maybe.

She smiled wanly. Free really was a simple man. He was blunt, honest, brutal and straight-forward. He didn't plan in overly complicated manners. He didn't generally think things through. He just, sort of went on instinct. And as much as she wanted to believe that this man, who had no use for her, and could crush her with a mere flick of his wrist, was too dangerous to trust, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Something about his presence, his actions, and just _him_, felt right.

An amused chuckle jolted the frog witch out of her reverie, drawing her attention to Molok, whose eyes were on the display screen ahead of them. His hands, sheathed in wired gloves, moved like they were controlling the strings of a marionette.

"That idiot's actually trying to hurt me." Molok murmured, eyes not leaving the screen.

Eruka croaked derisively. "Idiots tend not to care as much about the consequences of their actions." She sighed, smothering an unbidden smile under an exasperated expression "It's one of his strengths."

"Is it now?" Molok replied without turning from his task. "For most, that would be a fatal weakness."

"For most, fatal weaknesses are, well, fatal." Eruka said in a ponderous tone "But it doesn't work that way for people who don't die." She paused with a dissatisfied frown "But you already knew that."

"Of course." Molok breathed. He said no more as he continued his puppet work.

Eruka frowned warily at the back of Molok's head. Why was he keeping her here? Could it have just been for his own amusement?

Molok chuckled once more, his hands still moving in concert with the action on the screen. "Let's see how he fares against this." He made a thrusting motion with his fingers as an incoming Free appeared on the display screen. With this motion, several sludge tendrils came into view onscreen, striking ravenously at their adversary. Their edges hardened to pierce through their foe, each strike tearing venomously at their target.

Free, though slightly pained, wasn't going to be deterred by mere flesh wounds, barreling through the barrage to get in close. In moments his face came to encompass the entirety of the screen. Eruka noted that he appeared to be quite determined. He was also enjoying himself, from the look of that grin on his face. She'd probably never fully understand that simple complex mind of his.

Molok launched another attack, this time from a tendril whose edge had been shaped into a makeshift scythe. Free stumbled away from the screen, his right arm no longer attached to his shoulder, although his left was still making some sort of gesture. Suddenly the world in the display screen was upside down and falling away from view.

Eruka winced. From what she'd seen of Free in earlier encounters, he'd probably attacked Molok with an ice spike from beneath. She could only imagine what kind of effect that attack had on her body. Oddly enough, she couldn't feel any of the damage. She was completely severed from all of her bodily functions, reduced to nothing more than a spectator to the mechanizations of her flesh and blood shell.

Wait. She _could_ feel something. It wasn't pain. Nothing so sharp or defined as that. No it was just… cold. Numb. And, oddly enough, damp. This wasn't left over from the badlands swamp. But what was it if it wasn't that?

A small chuckle caught Eruka's attention as Molok calmly pulled his hands out of the wired gloves and turned to face Eruka. Oddly the gloves remained floating in the air, moving as though Molok's hands were still in them. The cold feeling went away as Molok's gaze fell upon her.

"Is something the matter my dear?" Molok asked in a dulcet tone.

Eruka shook her head in an almost desperate manner. "N-no. Nothing's the matter."

"Oh?" Molok replied with the same note as before, crossing his arms in an almost chastising manner. He sauntered over to her in a slow steady gate, a cheshire grin forming upon his visage.

"Had I not known any better I'd say you were distracted." He watched Eruka with wide eyed interest as she began to back away from the grinning gypsy.

She didn't like that expression he had. It reminded her too much of the times when Medusa was having one of her moments. Eruka never wanted to know what was going on in that witch's head. Indeed she'd have preferred to have never met her at all. Back then, it was one chore after another, each more death defying than the last. Of course those chores were the only really enjoyable part of her time under Medusa's thumb. Probably some of her greatest achievements as a witch if she really thought about it. But she didn't want to think about it. Not when she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that even if the work was exciting, perhaps even fulfilling, it always came close to getting her killed.

The frog witch frowned warily as she watched Molok chuckle to himself, the picture on the screen behind him displaying a slowly approaching Free. Molok cocked his head amusedly, paying no heed to situation developing behind him.

"Whatever could be on your mind?" Molok's smile actually managed to broaden even further than before. He leaned forward as ice spikes filled the screen behind him. Surprisingly the view on the screen moved as if Eruka's body was dodging the attacks. Apparently, Molok didn't need to completely concentrate on the battle to fight it. The gypsy leaned forward "It's unhealthy to keep it inside you know."

Eruka was fairly certain that it wasn't physically possible for a smile to reach that far across a man's face. She croaked nervously. That cold feeling was coming back again.

Molok's expression shifted abruptly to one of candid pity. "Now, let's not be shy." The fight on the screen was growing even more fierce, but that didn't seem to deter Molok at all. "I only intend what is best for you."

Either Molok had zennish concentration abilities or he was one hell of an actor. At the moment Eruka wasn't sure which one of those she believed more. In either case the cold damp feeling was escalating again. Like she was soaked in water or something like that. She wasn't sure what was going on, what Molok was doing, or even what she was going to do to get out of this mess, but there was one thing she was very certain of.

"I still don't believe you."

At this Molok shook his head, a small chuckle ululating from his throat. Slowly the red innards of the tree in began to ebb away, leaving only darkness in their wake. The conducting hands remained in place, still controlling the action on the display screen. Soon only a witch, a gypsy, and window to the outside world were all that remained.

"How very unfortunate" Molok said as he reached into one his many pouches to produce his umbrella once more, "It appears we will have to do this the hard way." He smiled as he flourished the umbrella while resting his free hand inside of one of the pouches. "Do try to keep up."

Eruka bit her lip, her wide eyed gaze finding a home on the pitch black floor beneath her. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, at this moment, she should be afraid. Yet while she shook with anxiety, and beads of nervous sweat dotted every facet of her visage, she stood her ground, gritting her teeth to halt their incessant chatter. Producing a whole host of tadpole bombs in her hands, she gathered her courage, lifting her eyes to lock stares with her opponent. Free's words echoed in her mind as she willed her hands to stop shaking.

"_Unlike me, she could have a future if she got the chance.."_

"God damn you, Free."

---

Just beyond the walls that separated the Louvre from the roads of its district a quintet of small mice witches lay in varying states of pain and recovery, placed all helter-skelter across the crushed and mangled chairs of the inside of a double-decker bus.

Squished rather uncomfortably between two rows of chairs and the front portion of his now useless escape cycle, Bandages was trying valiantly to dislodge his legs from under the chairs ahead of him. A very difficult task when one considered that his right arm was pinned under the handlebars of his ill-fated bike.

A cross between frustration and panic crossed the man's bloodied visage when he noticed that the Mizunes were awakening. He began to curse vehemently as he struggled to remove himself from the entanglement. Realizing that his legs weren't going anywhere, he moved to wrench his arm from under the handlebars. Sadly the results were similar. With an exasperated sigh, Bandages' cursing halted as a dejected sort of acceptance settled into his visage.

His expression didn't change when he turned his gaze from his entrapment to find five very angry Mizunes lined up in the isle beside him.

"Gah, no more alright?" He raised his one free hand in a placating gesture. "I give."

The glares of the mice witches all narrowed dangerously. Their synchronization was rather intimidating.

"What, you don't believe me?" He frowned "Or maybe you just want to kill me." He nodded to himself. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

At this the five witches stacked on top of each other, melding into one tall voluptuous and fuming woman. She held one hand before her eyes, venomously muttering an incantation. Pink beams extended from each of her fingers as she moved her hand to grasp Bandages' chin in her palm. The energy beams were now dangerously close to severing Bandages' nose and ears, forming a jail of cherry pink fatality around the thief's face.

"What I want is for you to suffer." Mizune all but snarled as she edged the beams even closer to the man's face, drawing blood from his left cheek. However, she didn't press any further, instead abruptly releasing the man's chin. "But I need to find Eruka."

The man breathed a sigh of relief as the mouse witch turned to leave. The sigh evolved into a painful cry as the witch spun on the ball of her foot to slash across the man's trapped arm. Bandages moved his remaining arm to hold the remains of his now amputated right arm, only to have that one slashed off as well. The man resumed his stream of curses as Mizune sashayed to end of the maimed bus.

Mizune nodded as she caught wind of Eruka's scent. "I guess that will have to do for now."

She smiled maliciously, shooting one last glance towards the now, slightly less trapped, but now far more inconvenienced thief. "Pray that you die before I get back."

With that the mouse witch split back into her five separate parts, and rocketed out of the bus. Bandages now sprawled in a rather haggard manner across the chair and other elements that were holding him in place smiled.

"Heh"

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More to come…

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	8. The Non Sequitur

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of Soul Eater or its characters

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parisian Misdirection

Act 8

The Non Sequitur

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Mizune took a calming breath as she entered into the Louvre courtyard walls. It was unlike her to get so angry. Of course, where Eruka was involved, Mizune had a far more reason to do so. No one would ever take that frog witch away from her. She'd promised Eruka and herself that much.

The Louvre courtyard's fountain area was a horrible mess. Between the patches of gelatinous glop, shattered ice chunks, and long dead thieves in black, the area looked like a veritable war zone. Apparently the thieves had gotten on someone's bad side.

Mizune had an inkling of who the thieves had angered, although she wasn't certain. She'd only seen so much before being hurled through the front window of a tour bus.

When Bandages had been thrown into the middle of the Rue de Rivoli, a tour bus en-route to crush him with nary the time to turn or stop. The Mizunes, flying in a V formation, had fully expected for the man to be mashed underneath it. However, considering that Eruka was still attached to the man's bike, that was not a favorable option. So the five Mizunes swooped down, still holding formation, hoping to move the bike, the frog witch, and consequently the thief out of harms way. Of course as soon as she did so, she would deal with Bandages immediately.

From the look on the resilient thief's face Mizune could tell that he didn't like the prospect of that at all. He was trying desperately to start up his bike again when something neither of them expected happened: Eruka awoke.

This wouldn't have changed the situation very much, if it weren't for the fact that as soon as her eyes opened an immense mass of frog gunk formed out her body, shooting forward towards the bus. It was unfortunate that the gunk mass took Bandages with it as it smashed into and through the front of an oncoming tour bus. As soon as the mass made impact it splayed out several tendrils through the sides of the bus. The tendrils anchored themselves in the street, acting as tethers to slow the bus to a halt.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the gelatinous mass retracted itself back into Eruka's body, leaving only trace amounts of residual liquid on the ground. At that point the Mizunes had already halted their approach, rather surprised at the recent turn of events. Eruka had always had the ability to produce sticky semi solid liquids, however, the Mizunes had never once seen her control the liquid as though it were an extension of herself. Nor had they ever seen her produce so much of it in such a short amount of time.

The burst of gelatinous sludge had broken the bonds that held Eruka in place on the bike allowing her to stand and examine her handiwork. The frog witch smiled in an uncharacteristically self-assured manner, before turning her gaze to the Mizunes.

It was the mouse witches' confusion at the situation that allowed for them to all be snagged by another mass sludge. They were then promptly thrust into tour bus with far more force than the Mizunes had thought possible. They could hear the sounds of footsteps from outside of the bus as they'd begun to lose consciousness. The final sound they'd heard before completely blacking out was that of gunfire.

Mizune suspected that Eruka's apparent boost power would've allowed her to do this amount of damage. That combined with the ice chunks suggested that Free had caught up with her and cut loose with his magic. Yet Mizune couldn't quite get a fix on Eruka's scent. Only Free's was readily apparent, Eruka's only vaguely present amongst the rest of the aromatic tangs in the air.

Mizune frowned dispassionately as she scanned the area with narrowed eyes. She could hear sirens in the distance. No doubt, the crash and the commotion from before had caught the attention of the police. Not that it mattered. They'd fall just as easily as the thieves had.

It was odd though. After looking at the scattering of dead men for awhile, Mizune could've sworn that there was a pattern to how they were laid out. It wasn't organized by any means, but something was making it… coherent.

Taking a more closed form of her slicer blade activation stance, Mizune focused her mind in an attempt to find Eruka's soul. Under normal circumstances she was only decent at sensing soul wavelengths. However, her "whiskers" could double as receptors for her, amplifying her sensing abilities by a rather large margin. It also made her quite capable of dodging most forms of attacks without seeing their actual point of origin.

Glowing orbs of varying radiant hues were scattered about the courtyard generally in close proximity to the bodies of the dead. The light of these listless souls was overshadowed by a powerful unfamiliar wavelength that blanketed the area its brownish green hue. The thickness of that swampy soul cloud obscured all but the closest of souls in its omnipresent wavelength quagmire.

No doubt this was what was masking Eruka's presence. Had it not been for Mizune's familiarity with Eruka's wavelength, she probably wouldn't have been able to even sense the frog witch's presence in the first place. Locating her friend in this massive fog of wavelength would be quite the feat. It was hard enough to see the dead thieves that were only a few feet away from her.

Then she realized something. The bodies under the souls were connected. A sludge trail led from one to the other and then into the soul fog. It appeared that the fog was being generated by the sludge link.

"Chi?" Mizune murmured as she followed the sludge trail into the muggy mist.

---

Darkness spread as far as the eye could see as Molok flourished his umbrella like a fencer's blade. The screen behind him continued to display an attacking Free as Molok tightened his one handed grip on the umbrella, his other hand resting inside of one of the many pouches the gypsy wore. "I shall make the first move." He said as he leveled the tip of his umbrella at Eruka. "I'd very much appreciate it if you allowed this to get to the second."

The frog witch merely swallowed in response, an odd cross between fervent determination and fear apparent in her expression. Centering her stance, Eruka's hold on her explosives came close to a death grip. Every part of her was tense in anticipation, her breaths sharp yet full. Her body couldn't decide whether it was afraid or excited, and she herself was unsure of how she felt at the moment. All she knew was that she was going to get out of here somehow. She was going to find a way.

At least, she was going to try.

"No response?" Molok smiled derisively. "Then let us begin shall we?"

With that Molok lunged forward, thrusting the umbrella like a foil. Eruka just barely managed to step out of the way, teetering on one foot as the umbrella narrowly missed her chest. However, she had no time to regain her balance as Molok flowed into a spinning horizontal strike aimed at Eruka's stomach. Thankfully, Eruka was already leaning away from the strike due to her previous precarious position. She toppled onto her back, watching with wide eyes as the umbrella swept over her, catching and cutting a stray lock of her silver hair.

She'd have balked in surprise if it weren't for the fact that she was busy scrambling to her feet. A wise decision as Molok had once again spun into an attack, this time a powerful overhead smash. Air was thrust loudly out of the way, as Molok slammed his weapon hard into the ground. He gave small laugh as he watched Eruka's hurried efforts to put distance between her and the gypsy parasite.

Molok continued to chuckle as he took a more casual stance, leaning on the umbrella like a ringmaster would his cane. "Oh dear." Molok said as he took his other hand out of his pocket, and picked up the small lock of hair he'd managed to chop off. "It appears that you're a mite bit slower than I'd expected." Sliding the umbrella into the crook of his arm, Molok used his now free sword hand to dig into another of his pockets. "I'd very much wanted to savor this." He produced a small plastic pouch, which he delicately slid the displaced tresses of silver into. "But it appears this will be over far too quickly for my tastes."

As Molok said this, he looked up just in time to see five tadpole bomblettes flying through the air towards him. "Oh my." He murmured as the tadpole bombs exploded. The gypsy swayed slightly before falling backwards to the ground, his face charred to a crisp. As his head hit the ground, the screen behind him flickered slightly before cutting to black. Apparently, that had been enough to shake Molok's concentration.

Eruka allowed herself a small smile as she began to mutter an incantation under her breath. She'd been wanting to do that for awhile now, but hadn't courage. She knew full well that a few bombs weren't enough to kill him. At least not in this soulscape. In this place she was attacking a representation of Molok's soul, with what essentially was the essence of her own. She doubted she could do any serious damage without proper preparation.

Sure enough Molok stood once more, dusting himself off with one hand as he produced a marginally sized white handkerchief in the other. "I suppose I deserved that" Molok said as he spread the handkerchief flat across his palm. The small white cloth somehow stayed in place as the gypsy parasite drew his hand across his face like a curtain across a stage. In one motion all the char marks were gone, as though they'd merely been a facial expression and nothing more. Indeed, Molok's five finger curtain had left a clean and amused smile in the place of the blackened injuries.

"A pity really. You should've followed that up." Molok said as he flourished his umbrella once more, reprising his stance from before. "You may not get a better chance."

Yes, the frog witch was going to need something… creative. She glanced at the screen behind Molok. Even without Free there she felt like he was watching her. Fighting for her. Believing in her. She couldn't help but smile at his blind faith, and at the fact that she was beginning to trust him in the same manner. That damned idiot was rubbing off on her more and more. And while a part of her hated that, she couldn't deny that his influence was giving her the courage she needed at this moment.

"We'll see about that." Eruka replied, injecting as much confidence into her voice as she could muster. She finished her incantation soon after that statement, causing two large man-eater tadpoles to appear at her side. Their joy at being summoned was very apparent in the immense grins they wore as they gnashed their teeth in dark anticipation. She gently laid a staying hand upon each of their bulbous heads, mollifying their anxious snarls. Quieted, they nuzzled into the frog witch's gentle caress before turning their blood thirsty gazes towards Molok.

Molok smiled in a rather unsettling manner "Indeed we shall see about that." The gypsy parasite made a beckoning motion with his free hand. "Whenever you're ready my dear."

"Buy me some time. Ok?" Eruka murmured under her breath to her familiars as she lifted her hands from their heads. "I'll need as much of it as I can get." With synchronous nods and a final affectionate nuzzle the two monsters flew forward towards their master's adversary, jowls snapping at air as they encroached upon him.

Molok stepped forward to meet the pair of man-eaters, throwing out a warding slash with his umbrella as he rummaged through one of his pockets with his free hand. The attack was easily side-slipped by both tadpoles, one going under towards Molok's legs and the other going over for Molok's head.

The gypsy parasite just managed to duck under the tadpole that was heading for his head, allowing it to blaze over him, continuing to bite at the air. At the same time he moved his umbrella in front of himself to block the second tadpole's bite at his leg. The monster's teeth dug deep into the umbrella as it wrenched the weapon from Molok's grasp. It found however, that it couldn't wrest the umbrella from it's own grasp, as some kind of gelatinous liquid lined the insides of the weapon. It struggled ferociously with the weapon, using whatever surface it could to gain the leverage to remove it. Content with this development Molok turned away from the struggling beast, his left hand still rummaging through his pocket.

He now faced the other tadpole which had already turned itself about to renew its charge. The gypsy parasite smiled producing a self-reeling tape measure in his left hand as the beast approached. He made snapping motion with his arm, as though he were cracking a whip. The measure shot out like a chameleon's tongue extending and retracting within the span of a half second. The advancing tadpole barely managed to dodge the strike, rolling to the side of the attack while continuing its approach.

However, it wasn't quite as successful in its attempts to dodge the second attack, as Molok flicked the measure again, this time adding a swirl to the motion giving the attack a spiraling trajectory. The attack swirled around the charging tadpole ensnaring and pulling it in as it tried to roll out of the way.

Even before he'd caught the beast, Molok had already begun to rummage through one of his pouches with this right hand. He pulled out a heavy headed hammer as the tadpole was pulled into biting range by the retracting measuring tape. It managed one snarling bite, unfortunately only sinking its teeth into one the gypsy's many pouches. There was no time for it to react as Molok slammed its head hard with the hammer, crushing its form into the ground.

Eruka winced as this happened, but didn't move from her spot, continuing her incantation as her familiar that had lodged its teeth in Molok's umbrella resumed its attack on the gypsy parasite, bull rushing Molok with its enormous head. She watched as her pet continued to charge Molok, who, after regaining his footing from the first attack, began to dance around its charges like a matador.

However, it didn't matter whether Molok was getting hit or not, as long as he wasn't attacking Eruka directly. As long as she got the time she needed to finish the cast. That was all she needed.

And when she finished, everything would be on the line.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More to Come

Tell me, was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way inquiring minds want to know

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	9. Twilight's Return to Louvre's Edge

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of the Soul Eater universe, or its characters

Parisian Misdirection

Act 9

Twilight's Return at Louvre's Edge

Scores of icy constructs littered the frostbitten grounds of the Louvre's atrium, its fountains and enclosing walls frozen solid. The tinted white hues of the ice glinted in the light of the sunrise, their unmoving forms reflected in the glass of the pyramid that stood at the atrium's center. Free stood amidst this maze of frost born flows a befuddled scowl forming on his visage as he scanned the area for his adversary.

Free growled out a guttural curse. He'd gotten a little carried away during the course of his fight with Molok, losing sight of the crafty parasite amidst the torrents of supernatural sludge and ice that they were chucking at each other. Errant clumps and trails of the parasite's myriad liquid concoctions were the only indicators of Molok's presence that Free could see, their haphazard placements giving no hints to the parasite's location. Free knew, however, that Molok hadn't completely given him the slip. His scent was still in the air, concentrated just enough to irritate the immortal werewolf with its presence, and yet dispersed enough to obfuscate Molok's exact whereabouts. No doubt this was the parasite's way of taunting him.

There was something else though. He'd hadn't had the time to notice whilst fighting the gypsy parasite, but now it was very apparent. Somehow, despite Molok's apparent nearness, Eruka's aroma had all but disappeared. Only faint traces of her presence remained, and even those were elusive, wafting into his nostrils for nary even seconds before once again dissipating into the ether.

At that moment it donned on him. Molok wasn't just taunting him with his scent. He was hiding something under it. Something he didn't want Free to notice.

This in mind, Free turned his focus to a different set of smells. Specifically scents that didn't resemble that of Molok. Ignoring his own, he found a variety of aroma's wafting through the air. Specifically of dried blood and gun smoke that was more than likely from whatever happened around the fountain before he arrived. The pungent smell of car emissions was growing as well. Probably the police arriving on the scene.

Unfortunately, these scents were fairly distant from where he was standing, and of no real consequence. There was however, one scent that was very close and most certainly didn't belong. At least, he didn't recognize it as anyone he knew personally. This particular scent wasn't dispersed about the courtyard. He knew exactly where this mystery person was. Murmuring a quiet incantation under his breath, Free turned to face a particularly curvaceous wave of staid ice, cocking an arm back as he crouched to the ground, taking a sprinters stance.

A large sphere of ice formed on his left hand as he raised it to shoulder level. When the sphere was about twice the size of his head, Free launched into a bounding run, taking two powerful steps before he was upon the wall. Throwing his entire body behind the strike Free thrust his frost shrouded fist into the icy rampart, shattering its rigid form with a raucous crash, unveiling the source of the unfamiliar smell. She scrambled to escape the Free's grasp, but the ice betrayed her, sending her to careening into the immortal werewolf's clutches. He snatched her up off the ground by the throat, his firm grip nearly crushing her neck.

However, when he got his footing long enough to focus his gaze upon the woman in his grasp he found that he was looking at the same older Eruka that Molok had been controlling, fervently struggling to release herself from Free's grasp, a fearful look in her eyes.

He dropped her on reflex.

The frog witch look alike fell to the ground, grasping her throat, attempting to land on her feet. Unfortunately the magic born ice would afford her no traction, as her feet flew out from under her, sending the back of her head careening towards the ground. The woman's head slammed hard into the ice, the rest of her body following suit, her sludge armor splattering across ground with her body's impact.

"Damn" Free said, a pained piteous expression on his face. "That had to hurt." He frowned ponderously as the woman remained very still on the ice, the liquefying armor pooling around her prone form. The unconscious woman's scent was becoming clearer by the second "You're not Eruka, are you?"

Indeed, if his sense of smell was to be trusted, this person in front of him wasn't really anyone he was personally familiar with(although her gear had a similar look and smell to that of the thieves that she was more than likely one of). Even Molok's scent was sparse on her, and was fading by the second. Free wasn't quite sure how or when, but it looked like Molok had managed to slip away in the middle of the fight, taking Eruka, or, at least, Eruka's soul along with him.

"Shit." Free said, as he raised a hand to scratch his head in ponderous irritation. "Goddamnshit" He growled digging his fingers deep into his scalp. "Where the hell did that parasite get to."

As he was saying this, Free suddenly noticed that something thick and sticky was appending itself to his hair via his fingers. Pausing his irritated actions for a moment, the immortal werewolf brought the hand he'd been scratching with down to eyelevel his features forming a puzzled expression as he appraised it with his eyes. Apparently, some form of flesh colored gunk had appended itself to it. An odd occurrence, considering that sludge the Molok had been producing during the fight had a deep green hue to it. Free frowned curiously as he milled the gunk about with his fingers, the liquid drying up and cracking under the applied friction.

"The hell?" Free murmured as he returned his gaze to the false frog witch. "Fake skin?"

Now that he was taking a closer look at her, he realized that his hand had made a discolored imprint on her neck. The skin around the imprint was the same coloration as Eruka's, however, it was starting to oxidize, crack and dissolve revealing the skin underneath that was of a brownish tan hue.

Crouching down on his haunches, Free leaned in for a closer look, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. He noticed that Molok's fading scent appeared to be coming from a specific location underneath the small of the woman's back.

Curious, Free stood up, wedging his foot underneath the unconscious woman's back and flipping her over with a rough kick in the side. There was no discernable reaction from her, aside from a quiet squelching noise as her body rolled over in the steadily increasing pool of sludge that had formed from the false frog witch's desolidified armor. The only forms of protection that remained on the woman were a flak jacket and some gun harnesses, ensconced around a black long sleeve shirt and nylon pants of that same coloration.

Following the scent to its source, Free found a small almost imperceptible lump located near the lower center of the woman's flak jacket and undershirt. Lifting the shirt and jacket to the middle of the unconscious thief's back, Free found the source of Molok's fading scent: A gelatinous ovoid bulge of a conspicuously clean and translucent green hue. The bulge appeared to be burrowed into the small of the woman's spine, and was surrounded by a steadily dissolving layer of skin that was of Eruka's epidermal tone, revealing the brownish tan coloration (assumedly, the woman's true skin tone) beneath it.

Ponderous irritation morphed into nostalgic realization as Free cuffed himself in the forehead. He'd seen this before. Many times in fact. Back when he'd been ordered to track Molok down after his initial desertion of Shibusen's original black ops team, Molok had used this trick to disguise people whose body types were close to his own, making them look and act like himself in an attempt to throw his pursuers off his trail. Initially, Molok hadn't bothered with replicating his own scent on his unwilling impersonators, however, when Free had shown himself to be capable of discerning the fakes even when their souls and appearances were masked as Molok's own, the gypsy parasite had adapted the technique to include the aromatic spectrum. Free hadn't realized that Molok could replicate the scents of others, although, now that he was aware of that possibility, it made perfect sense that he could.

However, there was one other fact about this technique that Free remembered from all those years ago. Molok's replicas couldn't do much on their own unless Molok was nearby, controlling them. Considering the amount of complex motions the false Eruka executed while Free was fighting her, the gypsy parasite had to be very close by.

And Free had an inkling where, "close by" was.

Mizune frowned darkly as she soured the sandy paths of the Louvre's grassy courtyard with all of her senses. She'd been following the sludge trails for awhile now and had begun to sort out something of a layout with regards to the way the trails were placed. They appeared to be radiating out from a single point, although she couldn't quite tell where that point was, due to the hazy energy fog that the trails were emanating. Still, even with this miasmic fog of energy obscuring the details of the soulscape, it was fairly apparent someone was preparing a ritual incantation. From the size of the array and the amount of bodies left wtihin it, this particular incantation looked like it required a lot of collateral to invoke. The notion was believable enough although, there was one little detail that didn't quite make sense.

If Mizune remembered the tenants of ritual casting she'd gleaned from Eruka's efforts at studying them, incantations that involved the use of souls required that the souls in question be restrained or mollified, so that their energies could be siphoned with minimal effort or resistance.

As far as she could tell the souls in this area had been allowed to roam about freely. With no form of mystic restraint of hypnosis present, a strong willed soul could attempt to leave the casting area or alter the ritual adversely. Unless the caster had the ability to maintain large scale versions of soul influencing spells, there was no guarantee that this ritual, whatever it was, would work.

Then again ritual spells certainly weren't her forte. It was possible that she was missing something about this one's construction. It was also possible that this set up was for something else entirely. In that same vein, it was also possible that the invoker of this ritual was an idiot.

Regardless, it had become apparent that the sludge trails were leading her closer to Eruka as brief wafts of her scent and wavelength were emerging with more and more frequency. They were brief, only palpable for mere moments before once more fading into the miasmic energy fog that obfuscated the soulscape. These brief clues to the frog witch's whereabouts were enough to assure the mouse witch that her friend was still alive somewhere in this energy haze. How long that would last, though, was a question she had no answer to.

Just as she thought this, a concentrated burst of soul energy flared into existence. It's nature was unstable and tumultuous, its intensity growing with each passing second. Strangely though, it still possessed elements of fear and timid determination within it, as well as a certain essence that could only be described as "froggish". The level of activity within the wavelength that Mizune was sensing was somewhat out of character, but there was no mistaking who the wavelength belonged to.

"Chi?" Mizune squeaked as she faced the direction of the flaring soul "Eruka!"

With an explosive burst of magical energy, Mizune rocketed off towards what appeared to be the frog witch's, location, a worried desperation forming on her visage as a fearful notion formed in her head. Eruka's soul had only flared like this once before, back in the days when they were both still learning the basics of witchcraft. The incident that followed had nearly killed the frog witch, and this time the intensity was far more than it had been back then. Whatever it was that was happening , Eruka was getting desperate.

"Hold on Eru. I'm coming."

It was ready now. She was ready. She was practically thrumming with magical energies, the natural cauldron that was her soul stoked into a burbling fervor. Her skin had taken on an inky black tinge, the lines of her veins glowing with a faint green light that rose and fell in intensity with the rhythm of her breathing. The beginnings of an explosive chain reaction, not unlike the kind that lay dormant within her tadpole bombs, had been conjured in her soul, turning the frog witch in to a living breathing bomb.

Eruka was very aware of her situation's volatile nature, having done this once before. Although that time was more of an accident and had involved just her hand. Her memory of the event itself was fairly scant, with brief images of Mizune rushing her to somewhere, her arm hurting rather profusely and being fussed over by a witch with a tanooki tail. The explosion, though, was very clear in her memory. The initial blast had caused quite a bit of damage to her. Were it not for Mizune and whoever that other girl was, she'd have become a one handed witchling for sure. Now with her entire body ready to detonate, there was no question of how lethal this could and probably would be.

However, as unsettling as it was, that fact was the very thing that she was counting on.

Biting back a nervous croak, Eruka carefully took a step forward, carefully siphoning some of the energy from her body into a single fist sized bomb, not unlike a grenade in shape. She bit her lower lip as she attempted to halt the nervous quivering of her hands, slowing the pulse of soul energy cycling through her body. The gypsy parasite had apparently neglected to notice Eruka's preparations, appearing to be quite engrossed in the act of dancing around the clumsy attacks of a sealed mouthed man-eater tadpole.

Despite this, his reaction when the frog witch lobbed the tadpole grenade was surprisingly quick. He deftly spun to the side of the explosive with barely a glance in its direction, avoiding it quite cleanly. Unfortunately, the giant tadpole that charged after him wasn't so lucky, catching the grenade in the side of its bulbous head. The ensuing explosion sent the giant tadpole sliding across the ground, a dazedly confused expression on its features as it skidded to a halt, charred and unconscious.

Molok looked on with thinly veiled amusement, a smug expression forming on his visage. "How unfortunate." He said "I'd thought you were preparing something a bit more impressive than that." He shook his head, turning to face the young frog witch. "Then again…" Molok started, his expression gaining an intrigued air as he took in the frog witch's current appearance. "It would appear that you have undergone quite the interesting transformation my dear."

Eruka swallowed, resisting the urge to flinch at the honorific as she took a moment to gather her wits and resolve; doing her best to quell the nervous shivers that were rolling through her. Now was not the time to be scared, even if every fiber of her being recognized the desperation of her situation. Even if, for all intents and purposes, she was quite fearful at the moment, considering that one false move could result in her death, one way or another.

"Don't play dumb." she managed, injecting as much confidence to her voice as she could. "You know what this is."

"Oh, I certainly do." Molok replied matter-of-factly as he began to dig through one of his pockets with his right hand. "Although, I am somewhat curious as to what you intend to do next."

Eruka's mouth became a grim line as she clenched her fists in an attempt to further solidify her resolve. "Nothing" She replied, "Nothing at all."

This garnered a chuckle from Molok as he produced a notepad and pen out of one of his many pockets. "Indeed." He said as he hurriedly scribbled something on the pad. "Well met my dear." The pen moved furiously in Molok's hand as he quickly scrawled down flurry of notes. "Very well met indeed" he murmured as he suddenly thrust both pen and paper back into the pocket from whence they came. "Although I'm a mite bit disappointed that you took such drastic measures so early." Molok shook his head, his hands remaining in his pockets "I'd have liked to have seen more of capabilities."

Eruka scowled darkly as the glowing veins that snaked across her body flared in intensity. "Well, you're not going to." She replied, surprising herself with the firmness of her own voice. "Now give me back my body or I'll kill us both."

"Well now." Molok replied, a daring look in his eyes. "I don't believe either of us wants that." His eyes narrowed, "More over, I don't believe you can do it" He paused a moment, purposefully digging through his pockets for something as he continued to speak. "I don't believe it to be in your nature to commit suicide." Molok smiled in a mildly perverse manner, "Certainly not when she has the chance to become far more powerful than she's ever been before."

An uncertain croak ululated from the frog witch's throat. It was true. Right now, her body had power enough to face down a squad of meisters with relative ease. If she accepted it, she certainly would have nothing to fear from humans ever again. Indeed, with this kind of power she could at least make a pretense at resisting Medusa, although, in truth, she wasn't certain if any amount of power could surmount that mad witch's serpentine cunning.

And of course, there was the reason she had come to Paris in the first place.

"You're right." Eruka replied, the glow of her soul not waning "I could really use that kind of power."

She paused for a moment, a myriad of doubts and worries passing across her features, uncertain shivers coursing through her glowing veins. She closed eyes for only moment, though more than a moments worth concerns assaulted her in that instant of contemplation. Yet, when her eyes opened once more, she found that she had her answer. It was a simple fact that she hadn't allowed herself fully to accept until now. She swallowed, allowing herself a brief sigh as she committed herself to the notion she'd known all along.

"But I don't need it." She said shaking her head. "Not as long as I've got friends like Free and Mizune."

Molok, who had been idly rifling through his pockets for something during Eruka's reply, frowned curiously as he halted his search. "I see." He murmured. "So you would die instead of taking what I've offered?" He shook his head, "I thought you witches were averse such bleak decisions."

"It's true." Eruka replied "We witches don't like dying." The radiant veins across her body pulsed slightly. "But to take the power you're offering would be to allow you to control me." She allowed herself a small smirk. "And there's nothing a witch hates more than being controlled."

Molok returned the frog witch's smile. "Indeed" he said as he apparently found what he was looking for in his pocket. Producing a rather large umbrella, not unlike the one he'd used to fend off Eruka's pets earlier, the gypsy parasite flourished his makeshift weapon directing its point at the young frog witch. "I suppose I have no choice then." Molok said as he grasped the umbrella with both hands.

Eruka cringed, closing her eyes and preparing herself for an attack, as well as the inevitable explosion that would immediately ensue.

No attack came.

When she opened her eyes she found that she was now standing beneath the shade of a weeping willow on the central island of the swamp she had encountered when Molok had first forced her into this soulscape. This time however, the badlands that once surrounded the overgrown swamp were nowhere to be seen, marshland trees and terrain spreading off into the twilight haze of the horizon. Molok himself was nowhere in sight.

"What?" Eruka murmured as she quieted the burbling of her soul, her skin tone returning to its original hue. "He just left?"

Indeed, all signs of the gypsy parasite were gone. Not even a hint of his soul wavelength remained. And while Eruka was somewhat confused at the fact that Molok had disappeared so abruptly, she didn't have the energy to worry about whatever it was Molok could have been thinking of, or what plan he could have been concocting.

No, right now there was only one thing she had on her mind: Finally getting out of this soulscape and back to the real world. Back to her friends. Back to Mizune. Back to Free.

This in mind, she stepped into the central willow, phasing into its bark encrusted carapace, and out of the soulscape.

Darkness once more surrounded her, a strangely comforting warmth ensconced about her body as she became aware of some sort of wind assaulting what parts of her weren't held warmly.

"_If you needed protection, all you had to do was ask."_

Though she was slightly confused at first, she eventually realized where she was, and just what was happening. Reassured with this notion she allowed herself a brief sigh, feeling rather drained at the moment. She cuddled up to the warm darkness that embraced her and murmured a quiet few words before she allowed herself to fall asleep.

"Thanks Free."

More to come…

Was it enjoyable?

Or perhaps not?

Either way I must thank you for your continued readership thus far.

My apologies for the wait.

Au Revoir for now.


	10. Night Near Parc du Champs de Mars

I do not intend to garner any revenues from the use of Soul Eater or its characters

Parisian Misdirection

Final Act:

Night near the Parc du Champs de Mars

"Thanks Free"

The murmured words reached the immortal werewolf's ears as the frog witch that he held in his arms wrapped hers about him.

"Knew you could do it" Free replied, shifting Eruka's dainty frame to a more secure position, as he affectionately ruffled the young witch's hair. He stood just in front of the courtyard fountain at the center of the array of dead bodies that littered the area. Mizune, still in her adult form, stood just behind him, her eyes warily scanning the courtyard's sandy paths for any signs of movement. The sound of sirens hung in the air, muted for their distance from where the witch and the immortal stood.

"Is she alright?" Mizune asked, allowing her worried gaze to settle on Eruka's unconscious form.

"Looks that way" Free replied. "She's not glowin' anymore at least. Just a little cold, and little wet." He chuckled "Makes sense, since I found in the courtyard fountain."

A brief shadow of relief traipsed across Mizune's visage "I'm just glad she's safe. The way things were going I..." She swallowed, her voice gaining a slight tremor in it. "I don't…" she paused taking a small steadying breath "I'm not ready to lose her. Not yet."

"Yeah." Free said with a rakish grin. "Gotta say, I'm kinda attached to her too."

Mizune nodded. "Chi" she replied with an amiable smile. It only lasted for a moment however, as the mouse witch returned her gaze to the area around them. "We need to get out of here. The police are probably investigating the bus wreck right now. It's only a matter of time before they make their way in here."

Free's grin broadened "I think we can take 'em."

"And risk another stray bullet hurting Eruka?" Mizune replied "I think we've had enough adventure for one day."

Free's expression sobered a bit as he turned his eyes to the slumbering Eruka in his arms. He took in the sight of her dainty form for a moment. Resting tranquilly in his arms, a soft trusting smile on her lips as she breathed deep untroubled breaths, he was reminded once again of how young the frog witch was. And, also, of what she could grow to become.

"Maybe you're right." He replied, his grin returning in a slightly warmer capacity. "Maybe this is enough." He returned his gaze to Mizune. "Let's get out of here."

"Chi." Mizune replied "Follow me."

As Free followed Mizune to what would no doubt be some form of clandestine path through the Louvre that would allow them to escape detection, a pair of froggish eyes watched the witch and werewolf from behind one of the many windows that lined the Louvre's inner walls, thinly veiled interest burbling behind their appraising gaze. The watchful eyes belonged to a silver haired woman whose tan hued skin was hidden beneath black, sludge drenched body armor and sneaking gear.

Beside her stood a rather disheveled man in matching gear, though his was charred, scuffed, and ripped in all manner of ways. His arms ended just above the elbows, their ends wrapped in gauze and medical tape. The forearms and hands that were supposed to be attached there, were instead gripping on to the gun harnesses he wore, seeming to have a life of their own.

"I really don't like that mouse witch." The man said resignedly, "She's kinda sadistic."

The silver haired woman smiled in a perversely pleased manner as she watched the trio re-enter the museum, idly animating some of the sludge that was on her second chance vest and moving it to her right hand, where it began oscillating through various shapes and forms.

"Perhaps" she mused, forming the sludge into a tiny pyramid. "But you cannot deny her tenacity." Her smile broadened, "I fear you'd have turned out much worse for the wear, had I not taken full control when I did."

"She cut off my arms, Molok" The man replied blandly.

"It could have been far worse." Molok replied, as the sludge pyramid formed into a tiny faceless bust. "You could have lost your head, or had your body cut in twain." The bust demonstrated the effects of both of these outcomes as Molok noted them. "I doubt Arachne would go to the trouble of putting you back together at that point, Mr…?"

"Thesh." The haggard man answered.

"Ah" Molok said turning away from the window to face the thief. "Well then, Thesh, if you would please inform Madame Arachne of my delight in her gifts to me. Those thieves' bodies and souls will serve me well in the future. It was a grand gesture of courtesy for her to provide me with such a robust wardrobe on my return." The sludge in Molok's right hand shivered slightly before forming into a tiny yet intricate spider web. "I am honored and somewhat abashed by her offerings."

"So I take it you won't be coming with me to Arachnephobia, huh?" Thesh deadpanned

Molok shook his host's head. "Try not to be too disappointed, but when I'd found out that there was another of my lineage that remained, I had to investigate." He brought his host's hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner. "I feel that I am obligated to further examine the data I have acquired for the sake of my own kind. I'm sure Arachne will understand."

"Sure," Thesh returned darkly, "But I'd like to have something to good to report when I get back."

Molok chuckled, forming the sludge in his host's right hand into a likeness of the arachno-witch's head and neck "I think the chaos that we perpetrated on this night will be fine enough." The likeness smiled demurely as it eyed Thesh. "Especially if there are some converts to the Arachnephobian way." Molok turned his gaze back to the Louvre's Atrium, where enormous formations of ice were slowly melting in the light of the noonday sun. "I don't believe there will be any way of hiding the supernatural nature of what has just transpired." The Arachne likeness in Molok's hand winked in an uncharacteristically candid manner, "There certainly would be no other way of explaining _your_ current condition."

Thesh nodded to this with a slight smirk. "Guess I'd better go spread the good word,then, huh?"

"Perhaps you should." Molok said as the arachne head reformed itself into the shape of a sphere. "Give Arachne my best will you? I think it will be quite some time before I am able to greet her properly."

"Will do, Molok." Thesh said as he turned to leave. "May you be in her good graces."

Molok sighed as the presumably undead man hurried off down the Louvre's halls. "Yet another man caught in her web of widowing wiles. The hypnotic influence of that woman still impresses me to this day."

As the gypsy parasite said this, the sound of bare feet on marble heralded the response of a young feminine voice, "It's the kind of influence one needs to become a godhead."

Molok turned, and found himself facing a young blond haired girl in a black hooded dress whose fabrics were emblazoned with the images of white snakes. She lowered her hood unveiling her serpentine eyes that were possessed of a self-aware cunning that belayed far more years of experience than her youthful appearance suggested. "I never could understand her fascination with that sort of thing."

"It appears the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated." Molok said as his host body gave the snake witch a bow of greeting, the spherical ball of sludge in his host's right hand melting and solidifying into a green outer coating on that hand. "You've aged well, Medusa."

"I'm flattered you recognize me in this form." Medusa replied, feigning childlike embarrassment.

"One never forgets a Gorgon Sister." Molok said with a brief smile. "What brings you to Paris on this fine afternoon?"

"The sights mostly." The witch replied simply. "I caught wind of this new ice and sludge exhibit and had to see it for myself." Medusa smirked "It looks like everyone involved gained something from its creation." Her smirk broadened into a more than slightly threatening smile. "However, my intuition says that a repeat performance would be ill advised."

"I doubt one will happen." Molok concurred, "The intention of this piece has been achieved."

"I hope so Molok." Medusa replied, her smile not wavering in the slightest. "Because I don't like to share."

"Duly noted." Molok returned "Let us hope that we never have to speak at length on that matter."

"Yes," Medusa chuckled "Well, I have a few lost subordinates to collect, so if you don't mind?"

"Of course" Molok said "It has been an honor and a pleasure Lady Gorgon."

Elsewhere in the city of Paris, a young frog witch stirred, just waking from a very restful slumber. The young witch stretched her arms languidly, rising to a seated position as she drowsily opened her eyes. The surroundings that lay before her were unfamiliar, the arrangement of the room and the pictures on its windowless walls not matching up to those of the apartment she had rented out in the Louvre district.

Nervous worry replaced whatever grogginess she had left in her as she warily scanned the room, her gaze eventually finding its way to the door. Noting with some confused trepidation that she'd apparently been tucked in when she'd arrived at this place, Eruka quietly disentangled herself from the covers of the bed and crept to the door. She opened it just a crack to survey the room beyond.

There didn't appear to be any movement in the next room from what little she could see of it. At the very least, the lights weren't on. However, she could hear the sound of heavy snoring coming from that direction. Someone was definitely in there.

She would have to be careful not to wake them.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Eruka edged her way through the door, careful not to make a sound as she entered what appeared to be a modestly sized living room. She was tense at first, however, the sight that greeted her as she scanned the room allayed whatever nervous fears she had about her current situation.

Just ahead of her, seated comfortably in a tall wooden arm chair was Mizune in her three mouse form, head propped up on a small pillow against the back of the chair as she slept peacefully. She was framed by a large window at the other side of the room, where the Parc du Champs de Mars could be seen, the lights of the Eiffel Tower gleaming brilliantly against the night sky.

Apparently, Eruka had been asleep for quite a while, not that she minded so much, as the scene before her was worth the lost time. If it weren't for the incessant snoring, the view would be perfect

The source of the snore lay sprawled on a couch to Eruka's right, his large frame barely fitting within the confines of its armrests, even with his head and legs propped up on their respective sides of the sofa. No doubt that was why he was snoring.

Eruka smiled resignedly at her friend "Free, you idiot."

Saying this, Eruka returned to her room briefly, grabbing a pillow from her bed, before once more entering the living room. Careful not to jostle her friend too much, she adjusted his legs to a more comfortable position and lifted his head just enough to place a pillow beneath it. Sure enough, Free's snoring halted. He murmured something intelligible in his sleep as his breaths became deep and full, a contented smile on his face.

"Better, huh?" she murmured with a chuckle "I guess there are times when you need my help."

As she watched him slumber on the couch in a slightly less haphazard position than before, she couldn't help but think how funny he looked. One would never suspect that he was a convict or an immortal werewolf, let alone both. He could easily rip a man to shreds. He could easily rip _her _to shreds.

But she knew he wouldn't.

There was no real reasoning behind it, no undeniable proof that he wouldn't turn on her if he felt like it. No, All she had was a feeling. Just a feeling. And she was willing to let that be enough.

As she made to return to her room, she took one last gaze at the Eiffel Tower, its form glittering against the night sky, echoing the lights of the city the sprawled beneath it.

"Maybe we'll go there next." She whispered. "It _was_ high on his list after all."

She smiled as she quietly returned to her room, careful not to wake any of those who were still slumbering in the apartment. Little did she know that a certain werewolf was mirroring her smile, one eye open and watching.

"Thanks Eruka."


End file.
